Williams v. Clark

Citations

• 204 Pa. 416
• 54 A. 315
• 1903 Pa. LEXIS 819

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant—Contributory negligence—Perilous work.</p> <p>If a master gives a servant to understand that he does not consider the risk one which a prudent person should refuse to undertake, the servant has a right to rely upon his master’s judgment, unless his own is so clearly opposed thereto that, in fact, he does not rely upon his master’s opinion.</p> <p>A servant is not called upon to set up his own unaided judgment against that of his superiors and he may rely upon their advice and still more upon their orders, notwithstanding many misgivings of his own. The servant’s dependent and inferior position is to be taken into consideration, and if the master gives him positive orders to go on with the work, under perilous circumstances, the servant may recover for an injury thus incurred, if the work was not inevitably and immediately dangerous.</p> <p>In an action by an employee against his employer to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that the plaintiff while engaged at work in tearing down a furnace was injured by a plate of the furnace falling upon him. The day before the accident the plate had been loosened, and was laid or inclined against the back of the furnace, which was the only support it then had. Shortly before the plate fell plaintiff was absent about half an hour, and when he returned he found the plate had shifted somewhat from its former position. The defendant who was in personal charge of the work told him to go and pick the brick out of the furnace, and hurry up about it, as he did not want the team to stand there. Plaintiff suggested that the plate should be taken down first. Defendant then said, “ Go and do what I tell you to do. The plates is all right. I am looking after them.” Two other persons called the defendant’s attention to the dangerous position of the plate. One of these persons was told by the defendant to mind his own business, but two years afterwards defendant told this person that if he had