Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Ry. Co. v. McAnally

1952 OK 445, 257 P.2d 271, 208 Okla. 497, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 913
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 9, 1952
Docket34870
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1952 OK 445 (Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Ry. Co. v. McAnally) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Ry. Co. v. McAnally, 1952 OK 445, 257 P.2d 271, 208 Okla. 497, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 913 (Okla. 1952).

Opinions

O’NEAL, J.

This was an action brought by Charles D. McAnally against the Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway Company to recover damages for personal injuries growing out of and in the course of his employment as a section hand on defendant’s railway right of way.

The parties will be referred to as plaintiff and defendant as they appeared in the trial court.

Upon the return of the verdict in plaintiff’s favor and from an order overruling defendant’s motion for a new trial, judgment was entered, from which this appeal is taken. The questions posed by the appeal are (1) was there any proof of primary negligence under the various charges of negligence contained in plaintiff’s petition and, if so, did one or more of them result in the accident and the injury complained of? (2) whether the appeal presents substantial error in the court’s refusal to give adequate instructions under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, and whether the instructions given adequately submitted the issues in the case.

The allegations of the petition may be summarized as charging that the defendant was negligent in (a) failing to exercise reasonable and ordinary care in furnishing plaintiff a safe place in which to work; (b) in failing to provide a sufficient number of fellow employees to perform the work at the time and place of the accident resulting in plaintiff’s injury; (c) in failing to properly supervise the work and in doing the work in a dangerous manner; and (d) in doing the work at a time when the ground was covered with snow and sleet.

From an examination of the entire record, we find that the following facts are established by competent evidence:

Plaintiff was employed by defendant in 1945 as a section hand to perform work on its railway track and right of way. On the morning of February 13, 1948, defendant’s section foreman instructed plaintiff, and two additional employees of defendant, to load certain repair tools and equipment on a motor car then located at Allen, Oklahoma. The foreman, after receiving advice from the railway depot agent as [499]*499to the location of trains that might be operated over the track where his duties might require him to go, rejoined the three employees and ran the motor car from Allen to Boggy Curve set-off, a distance of approximately six miles south of Allen. When they arrived at Boggy Curve, plaintiff, and another employee, lifted the light end of the motor car across the main rails to the set-off rails, and the foreman and an employee pushed the other end of the car around. This method of removing the motor car from the main line track onto the set-off rails was the usual and normal way employed, which practice, as well as the physical conditions of the set-off at Boggy Curve, is not in dispute. As the motor car was lifted off of the main rails and in the process of setting it down, plaintiff’s foot slipped and he fell, causing an injury to the back of his head. There was snow and frozen sleet covering the Boggy Curve set-off, as well as the area in general, and it is claimed the accident resulted, in part, by this condition and in conjunction with the other specific acts of negligence heretofore referred to.

Considerable stress is laid upon the circumstances that the foreman told the men at Allen to hurry in loading the working tools upon the motor car as he wanted to reach Boggy Curve, where there was a set-off for the removal of the motor car, before the arrival of a train proceeding north reached that point; that when they reached Boggy Curve, the foreman again urged his crew of three men to hurry and get the motor car off of the main track as a train probably would arrive at any time. One of the employees stated that their foreman was always urging them to hurry.

Plaintiff further suggests as an element of negligence that the foreman having a discretion as to the time and place where work was to be performed by his men should not have gone on the inspection trip on the morning of the day the accident occurred, as it was then apparent that snow and sleet was upon the ground generally in that territory.

After the lapse of a period of time two trains passed; whereupon, the crew replaced the motor push-car upon the main track and proceeded on an inspection trip to a point approximately six miles south of Boggy Curve. They returned to Allen at noon and plaintiff reported to a doctor who dressed his head injury. Plaintiff returned to his usual work within a few days "and worked continuously up until July 19, 1948. During the month of July, 1948, the roadmaster of the defendant company observed plaintiff at a time when he was attacked by a spasm, or fit, and the roadmaster directed plaintiff to report to defendant’s physician at Muskogee for a physical examination. Defendant’s physician was of the opinion that plaintiff was subject to epileptic seizures and that the malady was evidenced by fits and by coma at periodical times. The defendant’s physician advised the railway company that plaintiff should not be permitted to resume his railroad work until his physical condition showed improvement. Thereafter, plaintiff submitted himself to two physicians of his own selection who furnished him statements certifying that they were of the opinion that plaintiff was able to resume his former employment. Plaintiff, accompanied by a representative of his labor union, made a request upon the defendant that they reinstate him in his former position. Plaintiff furnished defendant with the physicians’ certificates, and also advised the defendant that he felt as able to work as he had previous to the accident, except during such periods of time when he was “knocked out” by what he called “fits.” Defendant declined to reinstate him, whereupon plaintiff did construction work in the building of an Armory in the town of Allen, and was engaged in other labor employment. The evidence in reference to whether plaintiff had fainting spells, or fits, prior to the accident complained of, was in sharp conflict. Several witnesses testified that they had not ob[500]*500served that plaintiff had such “spells” prior to the date of the accident. The greater weight of the evidence is to the contrary, as his fellow employees testified that plaintiff had spells both prior and subsequent to his accident, and that the spells were not more progressive subsequent to the injury complained of. The evidence of the three physicians as to whether plaintiff was physically able to resume work was also in sharp conflict. From a careful review of the entire evidence, we are constrained to hold that the evidence does not sustain the allegations of negligence relied upon, and that the evidence and all proper deductions therefrom are insufficient to show a causal connection between the alleged wrong and the injury.

In Casualty Reciprocal Exchange v. Sutfin, 196 Okla. 567, 166 P. 2d 434, we held:

“Where there is competent evidence on the question of negligence introduced from which reasonable men might draw different conclusions, it is one for the jury, and under like circumstances the question of proximate cause is one for the jury.”

In Leslie v. Hammer et ux., 194 Okla. 535, 153 P. 2d 101, we said:

“As a general rule the proximate cause of an injury is a question of fact and only becomes a question of law where the evidence together with all inferences which may be properly deduced therefrom is insufficient to show a causal connection between the alleged wrong and the injury.”

In the case of Earl, Adm’x, v. Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Ry. Co., 187 Okla. 100, 101 P. 2d 249, we held:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cantrell v. Henthorn
1981 OK 15 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1981)
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Co. v. Kinsey
1962 OK 152 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1962)
Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Ry. Co. v. McAnally
1952 OK 445 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1952 OK 445, 257 P.2d 271, 208 Okla. 497, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 913, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kansas-oklahoma-gulf-ry-co-v-mcanally-okla-1952.