Kohn v. Nulta
| Decision Date | 16 January 1893 |
| Docket Number | No. 105,105 |
| Parties | KOHN v. McNULTA |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Statement by Mr. Justice BREWER:
On April 29, 1887, appellant entered into the employ of the defendant, the receiver of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company, as a switchman in the yards of the company at Toledo, Ohio. He coutinued in such employ until the 11th of July, 1887, on which day, in attempting to couple two freight cars, his arm was caught between the deadwoods and crushed. Thereafter he filed his petition of intervention in the circuit court of the United States for the northern district of Ohio, the court which had appointed McNulta receiver, and in which the foreclosure proceedings were still pending. At first his intervening petition was referred to a master, but afterwards, on his motion, the order of reference was set aside, and a jury called and impaneled. The testimony having all been received, the court left to the jury the single question of the amount of damages which the intervener should recover, if entitled to recover anything, and the jury in response thereto found that his damages were $10,000. The court, however, on an examination of the testimony, held that no cause of action was made out against the receiver, set aside the verdict of the jury, and dismissed the petition; from which decision the intervener brought his appeal to this court.
J. K. Hamilton, for appellant.
Wells H. Blodgett, for appellee.
Mr. Justice BREWER, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.
So far as the mere matter of procedure is concerned, there was obviously no error. The intervention was a proceeding in a court of equity, and that court may direct a verdict by a jury upon any single fact, or upon all the matters in dispute. But such verdict is not binding upon the judgment of the court; it is advisory simply, and the court may disregard it entirely, or adopt it either partially or in toto. Barton v. Barbour. 104 U. S. 126; 2 Daniell, Ch. Pl. & Pr. (5th Ed.) 1148, and cases cited in note. Improvement Co. v. Bradbury, 132 U. S. 509, 516, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 177, 179, and cases cited.
With respect to the merits of the case, the decision of the court was also clearly correct. The intervener was 26 years of age. He had been working as a biacksmith for about six years before entering into the employ of the defendant. He had been engaged in this work of coupling cars in the company's yard for over two months before the accident, and was therefore familiar with the tracks and condition of the yard, and not inexperienced in the business. He claims that the Wabash freight...
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