DocketNumber: Appeal, No. 140
Citation Numbers: 59 Pa. Super. 129
Judges: Head, Kephart, Orlady, Rice, Trexler
Filed Date: 2/25/1915
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 2/18/2022
Opinion by
Briefly stated the testimony of the plaintiff was to the effect that after he had worked about nine months on defendant’s farm, she told him to come to town and act as her coachman. He replied that he could not do it, that he had never driven a horse in his life. The defendant said she would teach him. He came to town, and on the day of the accident he was ordered to drive the team, and although he protested as before, he nevertheless undertook to act as coachman. He testified that he started to drive and the horses ran fast and fought. He tried to stop them, but the line broke and he fell out and was injured.
There was no testimony that the horses were of vicious habits and accustomed to running away, nor was there any evidence that the harness was not in good condition. The' sole question which the court submitted to the jury was, “Did the defendant insist upon putting a man to work who told her he did not know anything about horses, and did she insist upon it and persuade him to do a thing which he did not know how to do, and were his injuries the result of that?” The finding of the jury that defendant was negligent must have been predicated upon the defendant’s employing an inexperienced workman, to perform a dangerous task, the perilous character of which was unknown to him. In considering the facts, we find that his lack of knowledge and his inexperience was of course known to both of them. He asserted that he had never driven any horses. He knew he was undertaking a job for which he was not fitted. He was willing to share the
If the servant undertakes the performance of work, the danger of which he fully comprehends, the fact that he undertakes it unwillingly and for fear of losing his employment will not relieve him of the assumption of the risk incident thereto: 20 Am. & Eng. Enc. of Law (2d ed.), p. 120.
We are therefore unable to see wherein the negligence of the defendant lies. The assignments of error are sustained, the judgment is reversed and judgment is entered for the defendant.