Driscoll v. City of Fall River
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort, for personal injuries occasioned to the plaintiff on June 1, 1898, while in the employ of the defendant. The first count of the declaration, which was at common law, alleged that the injury was caused by reason of the incompetency of a foreman employed by the defendant; the second count, which was under the employers’ liability act, St. 1887, c. 270, and acts amendatory thereof, alleged that due notice of the time, place, and cause of the injury was given to the…
Read the full summary
Tort, for personal injuries occasioned to the plaintiff on June 1, 1898, while in the employ of the defendant. The first count of the declaration, which was at common law, alleged that the injury was caused by reason of the incompetency of a foreman employed by the defendant; the second count, which was under the employers’ liability act, St. 1887, c. 270, and acts amendatory thereof, alleged that due notice of the time, place, and cause of the injury was given to the defendant. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Aldrich, J., upon the issue of the competency of the foreman, a witness…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, J.
It is evident that the question which was objected to called for an answer as to the reputation of the foreman amongst the gang with which the witness had been working from three or four days to a week, and whose number did not appear, nor how long they had worked under the foreman. A general reputation regarding the incompetency of a servant is admissible on the ground that it furnishes some reason to believe that, if the master had exercised due care, he might have learned or heard of the incompetency. But the reputation of a foreman amongst a few workmen employed under him is not a general…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Monahan v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890
- Kenady v. City of LawrenceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1880
3Cited by21 opinions
- Coughlan v. City of CambridgeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1896
- Erickson v. BuckleyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1918
- Green v. Western American Co.Washington Supreme Court · 1902
- Leary v. William G. Webber Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1911
- Olsen v. AndrewsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
16 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.