Omer J. Miles v. Shell Oil Company, Shell Pipe Line Corporation v. Travelers Insurance Company, Intervenor-Appellee

GEE, Circuit Judge:

In this Texas diversity case, Shell Oil Company appeals from a judgment, founded on a jury verdict, in favor of an intervening workman’s compensation carrier and Omer J. Miles, who was severely injured when he grasped a winch line which had become charged with electricity by contact with Shell’s 440-volt overhead line. We conclude that Shell was entitled to judgment as a matter of law and hence reverse.

Some years before Miles’ injury, Shell had constructed the line in question to an oil pumping unit south of Eagle Trucking Company’s yard, as permitted under Shell’s oil and…