Salter v. Nebraska Telephone Company
| Decision Date | 22 June 1907 |
| Docket Number | 14,674 |
| Citation | 112 N.W. 600,79 Neb. 373 |
| Parties | P. H. SALTER ET AL., APPELLEES, v. NEBRASKA TELEPHONE COMPANY, APPELLANT |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the district court for Madison county: JOHN F. BOYD JUDGE. Reversed.
REVERSED.
Allen & Reed and W. W. Morsman, for appellant.
Mapes & Hazen and John R. Hays, contra.
January 1, 1904, Burt Crumb, an employee of the Nebraska Telephone Company, fell from the top of a telephone pole to the frozen earth, fracturing his arm at the elbow to such an extent that the ends of the broken bones protruded through his coat into the earth. He was taken to Hubbard, some 4 1/2 miles distant, and the next morning put on the train and taken to Norfolk, where he was placed in a hospital operated by the plaintiffs. One O. E. Dugan, foreman in charge of the working gang of which Crumb was a member, was in Norfolk at the time, and made arrangements with the plaintiffs for the reception and treatment of Crumb. The evidence discloses that Crumb had received a compound fracture of the elbow joint; that in drawing back the protruding bones previous to his reception by the plaintiffs, some 19 hours after the accident, dirt and other foreign matter, which had been taken into the wound caused by the protruding bones, infected the arm, and this infection spread over the entire system, necessitating a number of operations, among others the removal of the elbow joint, which operation was performed by the plaintiffs on January 16. It further appears that Crumb's condition was such as to require the constant attendance of a nurse and the services of both the plaintiffs to dress his arm, which was necessary from two to three times a day for some time after his reception. There is evidence tending to show that at no time previous to his leaving could Crumb have been moved from the hospital without great danger to his life. Crumb was received by the plaintiffs on January 2, 1904, and discharged on July 28, 1904, This action was commenced against the defendant and appellant to recover the value of the professional services rendered and for board and hospital services, the amount claimed being $ 918.
The answer admits that Crumb was an employee of the defendant corporation, and was injured so as to become in need of immediate medical and surgical treatment; avers that Dugan employed the plaintiffs to render such services of January 2, 1904, but that he then informed plaintiffs that defendant would not be responsible or pay plaintiffs for more than the first surgical treatment, and that neither he (Dugan) nor any other employee of defendant had authority to employ plaintiffs and to obligate the defendant for more than the first treatment given Crumb. The answer further offered to let plaintiffs take judgment for the value of the first treatment of said Crumb as specified in the petition, to wit, setting arm $ 25, with the costs to date of filing the answer.
On the trial the defendant interposed numerous objections to evidence offered by the plaintiffs, which objections were overruled and exceptions duly entered. The defendant offered evidence to show that Dugan had no authority to make any contract on behalf of the company for services rendered to any employee of the company, except for the first treatment given such injured employee; also, that Dugan informed one of the plaintiffs on January 3, 1904, that the defendant would not be responsible for any services other than the first treatment of Burt Crumb; that at a later date another employee of the company informed one of the plaintiffs, when interrogated about payment for services rendered Crumb, that it was a matter to be decided later by the company; and that on another occasion the district manager of the defendant company at Norfolk informed one of the plaintiffs that by the rules of the defendant company it would not hold itself responsible for surgical and medical attendance received by one of its injured employees, except only for the first treatment. An objection to these offers made by the plaintiffs was sustained by the court and defendant's exceptions duly entered. At the conclusion of the testimony the defendant moved the court to direct a verdict for the defendant as to the entire claim of the plaintiffs, except $ 25 for the first treatment, interest and costs, and the plaintiffs moved for a directed verdict for the entire amount of plaintiff's demand, with interest and costs. The court sustained the plaintiffs' motion, and in accordance therewith directed a verdict for the plaintiffs for the sum of $ 971.70. From a judgment entered upon this verdict the defendant has appealed to this court.
It will be unnecessary, as we view the case, to pass upon all the errors assigned by the appellant. While the rule is not uniform there are many cases holding that, where a company is engaged in a business dangerous to its employees, in case of an accident of such serious character that the injured employee stands in need of immediate medical or surgical attendance, the conductor of a train, or the highest officer of the company present at the time, has, from the necessities of the case, authority to represent the company and to bind it by the employment of a surgeon for such immediate medical or surgical services and care as are required. In support of this rule the court, in Terre Haute & I. R. Co. v. McMurray, 98 Ind. 358, 49 Am. Rep. 752, said: ...
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