Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Casey

9 Ill. App. 632, 1881 Ill. App. LEXIS 215
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 26, 1882
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 9 Ill. App. 632 (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Casey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Casey, 9 Ill. App. 632, 1881 Ill. App. LEXIS 215 (Ill. Ct. App. 1882).

Opinion

Bailey, J.

The defendant in this case is charged with negligence; first, in constructing its platform known as the “milk platform,” and allowing it to remain in dangerous proximity to its railroad track; and, secondly, in giving permission to the plaintiff’s intestate and his companions to get upon the train while it was in motion. These two charges are distinct from each other, and depend upon entirely different proofs, and they are therefore to be considered separately.

In relation to the first charge, the court instructed the jury, in substance, that the defendant was under no legal obligation to so construct .its platforms as to obviate liability of injury therefroin to persons hanging on the sides of its moving cars, and that if the- deceased was injured in consequence of a collision with the platform in question while in that position, the defendant was not liable by reason of the fact, if such be the fact, that the platform was improperly constructed and in dangerous proximity to the defendant’s track. It being undisputed that the plaintiff’s intestate received his injury in the manner here supposed, the instruction amounted to a decision by the court that, under the facts appearing in evidence, the plaintiff could not avail himself of any negligence in the construction or maintenance of the platform; thus, in effect, withdrawing from the jury all consideration of the first of the above charges of negligence. Without pausing to consider whether this instruction stated the law correctly or not, we are bound to presume that the jury obeyed it, and their verdict must be deemed to have been based solely upon the other charge of negligence. In determining, then, whether the verdict is supported by the evidence, we are limited, so far as the defendant’s negligence is» concerned, to that part of the evidence which relates to the alleged permission given by the defendant’s engineer 'to the plaintiff’s intestate and his companions to get on to the train while in motion.

Although the engineer denies giving any such permission, and swrears that his answer to the boy’s request was a refusal, and a warning to them to keep off, still, as the evidence on that point was conflicting, the verdict of the jury must be regarded as a conclusive determination of the question of fact thus raised, in favor of the plaintiff. On this branch of the case the only point open for discussion is, whether his giving the boys permission to ride was an act for which his employers, the railroad company, can be held responsible.

The rule undoubtedly is, that in order to make a master liable in tort for an injury caused by the wrongful or negligent act of his servant, it must appear that the act was within the actual or apparent scope of the servant’s authority; for if the servant was not acting in the due course of. his employment for his master, but in contravantion of his duty to him and against his interest, the master is not liable. Addison on Torts, § 1809. In Cooleyon Torts, 535, the rule is stated thus: “ The liability of the master for intentional acts, which constitute legal wrongs, can only arise when that which is done is within the real or apparent scope of the master’s business. It does not arise where the servant has stepped aside from his employment to commit a tort, which the master neither directed in fact, nor could have been supposed, from the nature of his employment, to have authorized or expected the servant to do.” In another place the same learned author says: “The master is liable for the acts of his servant, not only when they are directed by him, but also when the scope of his employment or trust is such that he has been left at liberty to do, while pursuing or attempting to discharge it, the injurious act complained of. It is not merely for the wrongful acts he was directed to do, but for the wrongful acts he was suffered to do, that the master must respond.” Page 534. But, as was said by the Supreme Court of Missouri, in Snyder v. Han. & St. Jo. R. R. Co. 60 Mo. 412, “ The mere fact that a tortious act is committed by a servant while he is actually engaged in the performance of the service he has been employed to render, cannot make the master liable. Something more is required. It must not only be done while so employed, but must pertain to the particular duties of that employment.”

Applying these principles ■ to the facts before us, we are brought to the conclusion that the engineer, in giving permission to these boys to ride, was not acting within the scope of his employment, and consequently that his act is not one for which the railroad company can be held liable. It is not pretended that the engineer had any actual authority from the company to give such permission. Hot only is there an entire absence of proof of such authority, but the evidence, so far as it bears on that subject, is all the other way, and shows beyond question that his act was in direct and palpable violation of the express rules laid down by the company for the government of its employes. By one of these rules it was provided that trains of the class to which the one in question belonged should take no passengers without a special order from proper authority, and then only on regular tickets or passes. None of these conditions existed here, and so the acceptance of passengers by any of the employes was forbidden. By another, rule the charge and control of the train was committed to the conductor, and by still another, the engineer was prohibited from allowing any persons, with certain specified exceptions, to ride on his engine.

Was the authority to give this permission within the apparent scope of his employment? Third persons are not bound to inform themselves of private instructions given by an employer to his employes, and so, in the absence of express no'tice, they have a right to presume that servants in a particular employment have the same authority, which persons employed in the same capacity usually have. This is what is meant by their apparent authority. It is based upon those presumptions which the public have a right to draw from the usual course of business in matters of a similar nature, or, in other words, from general knowledge and observation of the powers and duties ordinarily intrusted to servants employed to fill the same station.

The system by which railway companies conduct their business of carrying passengers and freight, has now been so long in operation, and is being conducted with such a degree of uniformity, that its general features must be presumed to be known and understood by the public. Among these, may be mentioned the division of their freight and passenger business into two distinct departments, and the admission of passengers upon freight trains only under well known limitations and restrictions, or their entire exclusion therefrom. Another is, the assignment to their respective and definite duties of the various employes on their trains. It is a fact with which the public must be presumed to be familiar, that the employes of an ordinary railway train, consist of a conductor, an engineer and one or more brakemen, and that each of these is charged with his own peculiar duties and powers. The conductor is the superior officer, and has general charge and control of the train, admitting and discharging passengers, collecting fares, receiving and discharging freight, and directly representing the company in its intercourse with the public. The duties of the engineer are subordinate, and of an entirely different character. His place is on his engine, and no where else, and his duties are limited to running and managing his engine.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 Ill. App. 632, 1881 Ill. App. LEXIS 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chicago-burlington-quincy-railroad-v-casey-illappct-1882.