Gregson v. International Railway

Headnote

Gregson v. International Railway Co., 166 App. Div. 969 , affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the fourth judicial department, entered February 5, 1915, affirming a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a verdict in an action to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff through the negligence of defendant, his employer. The complaint alleged that the plaintiff, who was a barn or repairman of the defendant, lost his leg while engaged in its service; that he was standing back of a car endeavoring to place the trolley on the trolley wire, and as soon as the trolley wheel touched the wire, the car suddenly started backward and caught the plaintiff between it and another car, which was standing on the same track three or four feet distant. The principal allegation of negligence was to the effect that the motorman who had been in charge of the car left the same with the power turned on to the fifth notch so that when the trolley wheel came in contact with the wire it caused the car to move. The answer interposed a general denial and set up a separate defense of contributory negligence.