Isaacs v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad

180 S.W. 345, 167 Ky. 256, 1915 Ky. LEXIS 827
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedDecember 9, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 180 S.W. 345 (Isaacs v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Isaacs v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad, 180 S.W. 345, 167 Ky. 256, 1915 Ky. LEXIS 827 (Ky. Ct. App. 1915).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

William Eogers Clay, Commissioner

Affirming.

..Plaintiff, Silas Isaacs, brought this action against defendant, Louisville & Nashville Eailroad Company, to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the defendant. The trial court sustained a demurrer to, and dismissed, the petition as amended. Plaintiff appeals. .

Omitting the prayer, the original petition is as follows :

“The plaintiff says that within less than twelve months last past he was in the employ of the defendant company, and that the place of work was in the yards of their branch line of the L. & A. Eailroad in the City of Eichmond, Ky. He says at the time of the happenings of the things hereinafter set forth that he was put to work by the agents and employees of the defendant company at said place in unloading heavy timbers from a railroad car on a side track.
“He says that at the time of the said work that there was a snow on the ground and timbers and it was cold and disagreeable work, and that the same was sleek and was dangerous; and he says that he and his fellow workmen complained of the character of the work and objected to the performance of the same. But he says that notwithstanding his objections that the foreman of the said work ordered and directed and required this plaintiff and his co-laborers to work at said place and to unload the heavy timbers from the said car.
“And the plaintiff avers that while in the performance of the said work that one of the very heavy large timbers slipped by reason of the sleek, slippery condition of the slanting pieces which were placed on the car [258]*258and the ground for the purpose of lowering the aforesaid heavy timbers from the car, and he says that the said timber caught this plaintiff and broke his right limb and otherwise bruised, injured and maimed him. And he says that from this breaking and other physical injuries sustained by him, he suffered great physical and mental anguish, and that his physical being has been permanently impaired, and that the injury has rendered him less able to perform .manual labor.
“He says that all of said work was done under the supervision of the foreman on the ground representing the defendant company, and was done at his direction alad at his command.
“He says that the method of unloading the timber was by hand, and that they were not provided by the defendant company with any suitable timber hooks or other appliances with which to lift, to move or to hold said timbers. He says that the same were green pine timber, 14 inches by 8 inches at the end and 15 feet long, and heavy and cumbersome.
“He says "that the order of the defendant requiring him to work at said work was wrongful, and that their failure to provide himself and fellow employes with proper appliances was gross negligence, and that the whole conduct of the defendant company at the time and place of the injury was grossly negligent and wrongful. ’ ’

The first amended petition is as follows:

“For amendment plaintiff withdraws the statement made in paragraph 5 in so far as it alleges that there were no timber hooks or other appliances with which to lift, hold, or move said timbers, the same having been made by error.
“For further amendment the plaintiff says that the place at which he was required to work in unloading the said timbers was unsafe, and that he and his co-laborers objected to working at the said place, but that they were required to do so by the foreman in charge of the work. And he says that his injury was brought about in addition to the things set out in the original petition by the fact of the unsafe place in which this plaintiff was required to perform his labor.
“The plaintiff says that the place in which he was required to work was unsafe for the reason that the ground .was rough and irregular and was covered with debris [259]*259and was close and crowded and not sufficient room for this plaintiff to avoid the injury brought on him by the falling of the piece of timber, and that the same was covered with snow, which made it sleek and concealed the irregularities and obstructions on the ground, all of which was well known to the foreman in charge of the works, who, notwithstanding the objections- of the plaintiff and his co-laborers, required him to work at that place-and in the manner described.”

The second amended petition is as follows:

‘ ‘ That he and his co-laborers were working under the immediate direction of the defendant’s foreman when they were unloading the timbers named in the petition: He says that this car of timber contained about 100 pieces and that the crew had removed all of the pieces from the car except three without mishap, and that when they were removing this third piece of timber, the foreman of the defendant company was on the car immediately in front of the plaintiff giving directions to the plaintiff and the other members of the crew as to how the piece should be held and moved, especially the part that the plaintiff should take in moving the said timber. And the plaintiff says that in obeying the directions of the foreman, his attention was called to and centered on the exact work that he was required to perform, and that he did not know and did not realize the dangerous position that he was in; and he says that he was relying entirely on the foreman to look after his safety and not to require him to perform work in a dangerous manner, and that he would not require this plaintiff to occupy a dangerous position.
“And he says that he, the plaintiff, was placed in a position that he could not see the surrounding timbers which were in his rear and to his side, and did not know that the timber which they were moving came so close to the ends of the timber which had been piled up and was to the left hand side and the rear of the plaintiff as he was standing when he was performing the work which defendant’s foreman required-him to perform.
“He says that the ends of the timber did not come off of the car and could not be piled with a regular smooth surface, but they were irregular and some, projected further than others and made the space which this plaintiff had to occupy more contracted. And he says that when this piece of timber was taken from the car it pro-[260]*260•traded so far to the left that it did not give sufficient ■room for the plaintiff to avoid the same, all of which could and ought to have been known by the foreman in charge of the work, but which this plaintiff as before stated could not observe and did not observe, and the injury was thus brought on the plaintiff by the gross carelessness of the foreman in the manner in which he required the work to be performed as well as the other conditions complained of in the petition and amended petition.
“This plaintiff says that he was exercising due care for his own safety, and further alleges that other men of discretion were working at the same time and doing the same character of work as himself.

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Related

Chesapeake Ohio Railway Company v. Music
49 S.W.2d 311 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1932)
Louisville & Nashville Railroad v. McIntosh
210 S.W. 181 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1919)
Jones v. Southern Railway
194 S.W. 558 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1917)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
180 S.W. 345, 167 Ky. 256, 1915 Ky. LEXIS 827, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/isaacs-v-louisville-nashville-railroad-kyctapp-1915.