Williams v. New York Cent. R. Co.

• Citation: 84 N.E.2d 399,402 Ill. 494
• Decision Date: 16 March 1949
• Docket Number: No. 30845.,30845.
• Parties: WILLIAMS v. NEW YORK CENTRAL R. CO.
• Court: Supreme Court of Illinois

402 Ill. 494

84 N.E.2d 399

WILLIAMS

v.NEW YORK CENTRAL R. CO.

No. 30845.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Jan. 19, 1949.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing March 16, 1949.

Appeal from Second Appellate Court, First District, on Appeal from Superior Court, Cook County; Donald S. McKinlay, Judge.

Action under Federal Employers' Liability Act and Safety Appliance Act by Harry E. Williams, against the New York Central Railroad Company to recover for injuries. From a judgment for plaintiff for $40,000, the defendant appealed to the Appellate Court. The Appellate Court, 81 N.E.2d 15, 335 Ill.App. 159, reversed the judgment without remandment with final judgment entered for the defendant, and plaintiff's petition for leave to appeal was allowed.

Judgment of Appellate Court reversed and cause remanded to Appellate Court with directions.

Edward B. Henslee, of Chicago (Melvin L. Griffith and Walter N. Murray, both of Chicago, of counsel), for appellant.

Sidney C. Murray, William A. Morrow, Marvin A. Jersild and Lloyd W. Bowers, all of Chicago, for appellee.

THOMPSON, Justice.

Harry E. Williams, appellant, brought suit in the superior court of Cook County against the New York Central Railroad Company to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by him while working as a brakeman on one of the company's interstate trains. At the close of plaintiff's evidence, and again at the close of all the evidence, defendant moved for a directed verdict. The motions being denied, the cause was submitted to the jury which returned a verdict finding defendant guilty and assessing plaintiff's damages at $40,000. Defendant filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and also a motion for a new trial, both of which were overruled and judgment entered on the verdict. The cause was appealed to the Appellate Court for the First District, where the judgment was reversed without remandment with final judgment in that court entered for the defendant. 335 Ill.App. 159, 81 N.E.2d 15. Petition for leave to appeal being allowed, the cause is now before this court for consideration.

The record discloses the accident occurred in the railroad or switch yards of defendant at Bellefontaine, Ohio, on November 23, 1944, at about 6:30 A.M. Plaintiff lived at Bellefontaine and was working as a rear brakeman on one of defendant's freight trains operating between Bellefontaine and Toledo. He was an experienced brakeman with a good record, fifty-four years of age, and had been in the continuous employment of defendant since 1913, first as a handyman and then as a machinist's helper. In 1916 he became a brakeman, and since 1923, when he successfully passed the examination for conductor, he worked either as a brakeman or a conductor.

On the morning in question he reported for work at the yards at 6:00 o'clock. There are thirteen tracks in the yards, all running north and south. The office is at the north end of the yards, in line with track 5; and about ten or fifteen feet north of the office, also in line with track 5, is a track with floodlights about 50 feet above the ground. These lights are focused toward the south to cover the entire yards. When plaintiff reported for work his train was made up and standing on track 5, although the engine had not yet been attached. The caboose was at the south end of the train and was about 45 or 50 car lengths south of the office.

Plaintiff's duty required him to make an inspection of the cars in his train, which he proceeded to do walking south on the west side of the train toward the caboose observing the types of the various cars and ascertaining what cars had the brakes set. The five cars immediately north of the caboose were boxcars and the third car from the caboose was New York Central car 291872. It was an ordinary boxcar, but one from which the defendant had removed the roof and running board. Evidence was introduced showing that defendant had in use 290 such boxcars from which the roof and running board had been removed and that these cars were usually stenciled with a warning that they were open-topped cars, but that the usual warning was not on this car. The fact that this car had no roof or funning board was unknown to plaintiff and he testified that as he walked along the ground making his inspection, there was nothing whatever on any of the boxcars to indicate that the roof had been removed from one of them. When plaintiff reached the south end of the train, he entered the caboose, and after performing minor duties, and after the engine had been coupled on and enough air had come through the train to hold it, he left the caboose to release the brakes. He first released the brake on the caboose and then the two cars north of it. The brake on the second car was on the south end and after releasing it, he walked along the running board looking for the brakes on the third car. He testified that it was dark, that the weather that morning was cloudy, either foggy or smokey, that as he walked along he was directly facing the floodlights which blinded him the same as if he had been walking along looking at the bright headlights of an automobile, that his lantern threw a light ahead of him for about ten feet or more, that his lantern was an oil lantern and not an electric light which throws a beam straight ahead; that he was using his lantern to find out about the car ahead of him; that he could not tell it was an open-top car, but could see that it was curved at the top of the end which was toward him and that it was probably a foot or 18 inches below him, and that after he saw the end of this third car, he stepped scross from the car he was on intending to step on the running board of the third car. However, as there was nothing there he stepped off into space landing on the floor of the car, thereby receiving severe injuries.

The complaint alleged that the defendant disregarded its duty toward the plaintiff in one or more of the following ways: (a) Defendant was careless and negligent in that it used along its lines, a boxcar without a running board thereon, contrary to and in violation of the laws of the United States as set forth in Chapter 1, section 11, 45 U.S.C.A. (b) Defendant was careless and negligent in not using ordinary care to furnish plaintiff with a reasonably safe place in which to do his work in that it allowed a boxcar, without a deck or running board thereon, to be hauled or used along its lines, when the condition of the car could not be seen in the darkness. (c) Defendant was careless and negligent in removing the roof or deck of the car and using the same along its lines when the defendant well knew or should have known that the men, in passing over the car in darkness, could not see that the car did not have a roof, deck or running board. (d) Defendant was careless and negligent in constructing or removing the roof, deck and running board from a boxcar with regular construction, except for this feature, as the defendant well knew or should have known that the same would be dangerous or hazardous. (e) Defendant was careless and negligent in not using ordinary care to warn plaintiff of the fact that the deck and running board of the car had been removed, when the defendant well knew that the plaintiff could not see that it had been removed in the darkness. (f) Defendant was careless and negligent in not using ordinary care to reasonably light its premises and cars so that plaintiff could see that the deck and running board had been removed from one of its boxcars. The complaint further alleged that as a direct and proximate result of one or more of the foregoing acts of negligence, the plaintiff received the injuries for which he asked damages.

The defendant in its answer denied the negligence charged, denied that the injuries were the result of defendant's negligence and averred affirmatively that plaintiff's injuries were the proximate result of his own negligence and want of care. It was stipulated that defendant and the plaintiff, as its employee, were at the time of the accident both engaged in interstate commerce. Defendant in its written admission of facts filed at plaintiff's request, also admitted that when it received the boxcar in question from the builder thereof, it was equipped with a roof and running board and that prior to the time of the accident the defendant had removed both the roof and running board from said boxcar.

The question presented in this appeal is whether there is any evidence in the record from which it might reasonably by inferred that the defendant was guilty of any one or more of the charges of negligence and whether such negligence proximately caused the injuries complained of.

Plaintiff, who is the appellant in this court, contends: (1) That the railroad company in its use of said boxcar without a roof and running board, was guilty of a violation of the Safety Appliance Act and the rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission, promulgated under the authority of said act. (2) Without regard to the Safety Appliance Act or the rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the railroad company, by its use of said car, at the time and place of the injury, was guilty of negligence in failing to use reasonable care and caution to furnish the plaintiff with a reasonably safe place to work. (3) Defendant's use of the car as aforesaid was the proximate cause of plaintiff's injury.

Defendant on its part claims there is no support in the record for the charge that it violated the Safety Appliance Act or the rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission, or that it was guilty of any negligence, which, in whole or in part, was the proximate cause of the plaintiff's injuries; and also claims that plaintiff himself was guilty of negligence as a matter of law and that such negligence is the sole proximate cause of his injuries.

The Federal Employers' Liability Act provides that every common carrier by railroad, while engaged in interstate...