Brown v. Lehigh Valley Railroad

108 Misc. 384
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 15, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 108 Misc. 384 (Brown v. Lehigh Valley Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Lehigh Valley Railroad, 108 Misc. 384 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1919).

Opinion

Kellogg, A. L., J.

This is an action brought by the plaintiff, Fred D. Brown, against the defendant, Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, to recover damages by reason of injuries which he claims to have sustained while in the defendant’s employ, as an engineer, on its railroad, and in charge of one of its locomotives, on the 12th day of January, 1915.

It is conceded that, at the time the plaintiff contends he received his injuries, the defendant was engaged in interstate commerce.

It appears that it became necessary for the plaintiff, in operating the locomotive, to reverse the lever used in applying the power, and for that purpose he had placed his right foot on a peg, as he designated it, within the cab, his left foot on the floor thereof, and both hands on the reverse lever; that, in order to move the lever, or throw it over, it was necessary for him to use considerable force, and in so doing, his left foot slipped into what he described as a hollow spot or depression which had worn in the floor of the cab, to the extent [386]*386of one to two feet in circumference, and to a depth at one point of from one to one and one-half inches, and that by reason thereof he was violently thrown to the floor, and received the injuries of which he complains. He claims that the day being stormy, dampness and water had collected in this hollow place or depression on the floor of the cab at the point where his foot slipped.

At the completion of the evidence the plaintiff, through his counsel, requested that the court submit the case to the jury under the Safety Appliance' or Boiler Inspection Acts of the United States, upon the ground that the cab of the locomotive in question was an appurtenance to the boiler under those acts. This request was denied and exception taken. The case was submitted to the jury under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, and was substantially as follows: “ If you find the fact to be that the risk was such an obvious one, that it was so obvious to any person familiar with those matters that any reasonable man, with familiarity would have appreciated it, and would have known of it, and he knowingly assumed the risk of it, then, of course, the plaintiff is not entitled to recover. If you find that the defendant was negligent, and that the plaintiff did not assume the risk, then you come down to the question as to whether this accident was caused in part by the plaintiff’s own negligence, and, of course, if it was, the amount of his damages which he might otherwise recover must be diminished exactly in proportion to the amount of the negligence attributable to him. If you reach the conclusion that the defendant and its employees were not negligent, you must find for the defendant. If you find that it was the plaintiff himself who was negligent, and that he was guilty of all of the negligence, he cannot recover. If you come to the conclusion that both the defendant [387]*387and its servants were negligent, but the plaintiff assumed the risk, you must find for the defendant. If, on the other hand, you find that the defendant was negligent, and the plaintiff did not assume the risk, and he was not guilty of the entire negligence, then he is entitled to damages. If you find the injury was due in part to plaintiff’s negligence, then the amount of damages must be diminished just exactly in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the plaintiff. If the plaintiff was not guilty of any negligence at all, and the accident was caused solely by the negligence of the defendant, he is entitled to the full amount of damages which he has sustained, if any.”

The jury found a verdict in favor of the defendant, no cause of action, and upon the rendition of the verdict the plaintiff made a motion for a new trial upon the ground that he requested to go to the jury upon the question as to whether, by the use of the word boiler, in the February, 1911, act of the United States, and in the use of the word appurtenance thereto it included the cab of the locomotive and the floor thereof. This motion was entertained.

If the plaintiff were correct in his theory that the cab of the locomotive was an appurtenance to the boiler, under and pursuant to the provisions of the Boiler Inspection Acts of the United States, which became a law on the 17th day of February, 1911, then the jury was misdirected as to the law of the case, and the plaintiff is entitled to a new trial, for the reason that section 8 of the act provides that: “Any employee of any such common carrier, who may be injured by any locomotive car or train in use contrary to the provisions of this act, shall not be deemed thereby to have assumed the risk thereby occasioned, although continuing in the employment of such carrier after the unlaw-' [388]*388ful use of such locomotive or car or train has been brought to his knowledge.”

The Federal Employers’ Liability Act further provides that: “ In all actions hereafter brought against any such common carrier by railroad, under or by virtue of any provisions of this Act, to recover damages for personal injuries to an employee, or where such injuries have resulted in his death, the fact that the employee may have been guilty of contributory negligence shall not bar a recovery, but the damages shall be diminished by the jury in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to such employee, provided that no such employee who may be injured or killed shall be held to have been guilty of contributory negligence in any case where the violation by such common carrier of any statute enacted for the safety of employees, contributed to the injury or death of such employee.”

Section 2 of the Boiler Inspection Law provides as follows: “ From and after the first day of July, nineteen hundred and eleven, it shall be unlawful for any common carrier, its officers or agents, subject to this Act to use any locomotive engine propelled by steam power in moving interstate or foreign traffic unless the boiler of said locomotive and appurtenances thereof are in proper condition and safe to operate in the service to which the same is put, that the same may be employed in the active service of such carrier in moving traffic without unnecessary peril to life or limb, and all boilers shall be inspected from time to time in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and be able to withstand such test or tests as may be prescribed in the rules and regulations hereinafter provided for. ’ ’

The act of February 17, 1911, was amended by an act approved March 4,1915, to take effect six months [389]*389after its passage, as follows: An Act to promote the safety of employees and travelers upon railroads by compelling common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to equip their locomotives with safe and suitable boilers and appurtenances thereto, approved February seventeen, nineteen hundred and eleven, shall apply to and include the entire locomotive and tender and all parts and appurtenmees thereof

Very serious consideration was given during the course of the trial to the proposition as to whether or not the cab of a locomotive was an appurtenance to the boiler under the act of February 17,1911.

From the definite and precise wording employed in the amendment, approved March 4,

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Bluebook (online)
108 Misc. 384, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-lehigh-valley-railroad-nysupct-1919.