Whittaker v. Valley Camp Coal Co.

Citations

• 260 Pa. 209
• 103 A. 594
• 1918 Pa. LEXIS 495

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Mines and mining — Safe place to work — Mine foreman — Entry way — Support pillars — Distance from tracks — Brakeman squeezed between train and pillar — Promise to remove pillars — Contributory negligence.</p> <p>1. In an action against a mining company to recover for personal injuries sustained by a brakeman in defendant’s employ, the case is for the jury and a verdict for the plaintiff -will be sustained where it appeared that plaintiff dismounted from a locomotive in a mine and went back along the train to apply the brakes to the cars and was squeezed between the train and one of a series of posts, which had been placed between the main track and the switch to support the roof of the mine; that there was a space of only two and one-half feet between the post and the main track; and that plaintiff had notified defendant’s superintendent and the mine foreman that the posts were dangerous and had continued to work in reliance upon their promise to remove them.</p> <p>2. In such case, there was no merit in the contention that the responsibility was that of the mine foreman and not that of the defendant, although the posts had been erected at the order of the foreman.</p>