United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Boldt v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 245 U.S. 441 (1918)

Boldt v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company

No. 62

Argued November 16, 19, 1917

Decided January 7, 1918

245 U.S. 441

Syllabus

Under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, except in the cases specified in § 4, the employee assumes extraordinary risks incident to his employment, and risks due to negligence of employer and fellow employees, when obvious or fully known and appreciated by him. While between cars in a freight yard, helping to repair a faulty coupler, plaintiff's intestate was killed, due to the impact of a string of cars,

Page 245 U. S. 442

moving by gravity under control of a brakeman. It was contended that the brakeman negligently permitted the moving cars to strike with too great violence, and that the company negligently failed to promulgate and enforce adequate rules to safeguard deceased while about his task, and some evidence tended to support both claims. But held that plaintiff was not entitled to have the jury instructed that

"the risk the employee now assumes, since the passage of the Federal Employers' Liability Act, is the ordinary dangers incident to his employment, which does not now include the assumption of risk incident to the negligence of the carrier's officers, agent or employees."

218 F.3d 7 affirmed.

The case is stated in the opinion.