United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Davis v. Wolff, 263 U.S. 239 (1923)

Davis v. Wolff

No. 71

Argued October 12, 1923

Decided November 12, 1923

263 U.S. 239

Syllabus

1. Where a failure of a railway company to comply with the Safety Appliance Act is the proximate cause of an accident resulting in injury to an employee while in the discharge of his duty, he may recover although the operation in which he was engaged was not of the kind in which the appliance required by the act were specifically designed to furnish him protection. P. 263 U. S. 41.

2. So held where a conductor, engaged in signalling orders for the movement of a freight train while riding on the side of a car with his feet in a sill-step and one hand grasping a grab-iron, was thrown to the ground, as the train moved forward contrary to his order, and was run over, his fall being attributable to the loose condition of the grab-iron.

294 Mo. 170 affirmed.

Certiorari to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Missouri affirming a judgment recovered by a railway employee in an action for personal injuries under the Federal Employers' Liability Act.