Young v. O'Brien

Citations

• 36 Wash. 570
• 79 P. 211
• 1905 Wash. LEXIS 630

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant — Negligence—Fall of Elevator — Negligence of Fellow Servant — Evidence—Sufficiency. In an action for injuries sustained by an elevator boy through the starting of the elevator by the janitor after the completion of repairs, there is no evidence of negligence by the janitor requiring the submission of instructions relating 'to fellow servants, where the janitor testifies that, after the repairs were completed, he untied the lever, which suddenly flew over before he could stop it, and the only other evidence tending to show neglect of the janitor being that the accident might have been caused by suddenly throwing over the lever instead of starting it slowly.</p> <p>Same — Scope of Employment — Instructions. It is not error to refuse an instruction to the effect that if the plaintiff, an elevator hoy, injured in the fall of an elevator, was outside of the-scope of his employment at the time of the accident, he could not recover, where it appears that he entered the elevator to take 'charge of it after the completion of repairs, according to his usual custom, and where the court instructed that, in order to find for-the plaintiff, the jury must find that he was in the elevator in the course of his employment.</p> <p>Same — Fall of Elevator — Inspection — Failure of Safety Clutches to Operate — Cause of Accident — Instructions. In an action for injuries caused by the fall of an elevator, it is not error to refuse to instruct that the fact that safety clutches did not work was not proof of negligence unless it appeared that an inspection would have disclosed their failure to operate, where there was no express request for such instruction, and the jury were properly instructed as to the duty of inspection, and that they could not infer that the machinery was defective from the mere fact of an accident, but must find a defect which was the proximate cause of the .injury.</p> <p>Same Assumption of Risks — Instructions. Instructions upon the assumption