Callen v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Plaintiff, a railroad brakeman, brought this action under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 35 Stat. 65; 53 Stat. 1404; 45 U. S. C. § 51. He recovered a jury verdict of $24,990, but the Circuit Court of Appeals reversed because of errors in the charge by the District Judge and ordered a new trial. The plaintiff’s claim as submitted to the jury was negligence on the part of an engineer in effecting a coupling operation at a speed which plaintiff thought would jolt him off the stirrup of the car he was riding. In jumping for safety, he claimed to have received a severe and permanent back…