Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Harvey

Background

Amanda Harvey sued the Texas & Pacific Railway Company after her son, W. S. Harvey, a hostler’s helper, was fatally crushed while a locomotive passed a post at the entrance to the roundhouse. The roundhouse had posts near the entrance and locomotives passed very close to them. Harvey was seated partly out the cab window when the engine moved and he was crushed between the post and the cab. The jury found for Harvey’s estate, the trial court’s judgment was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals, and the case reached this Court because the railway is a federal corporation.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the railroad could use the defenses of assumed risk and contributory negligence. The Court noted a 1905 Texas statute that narrows the railroad’s assumed-risk defense when a person of ordinary care would have continued working despite the danger. The trial judge instructed the jury according to that law and also told them contributory negligence was for the jury to decide. The Court held that the facts did not make contributory negligence so obvious that the judge should have taken the case away from the jury, and it found no error in refusing the railroad’s requested peremptory instructions.

Real world impact

The decision leaves the jury verdict and judgment for the worker’s family in place. It applies the Texas statute limiting assumed-risk defenses, confirms that juries decide disputed negligence questions, and upholds that employees who perform customary duties may recover when workplace conditions are dangerous.