Deckert v. Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad

The plaintiff, Carl Arthur Decker, while employed by the defendant railroad in a roundhouse, fell from a height of about 20 feet onto a concrete floor and suffered severe injuries. He brought this suit, alleging that the Federal Employers Liability Act (45 U. S. C. A., secs. 51-59) applied, and charged that the defendant was negligent in furnishing him with incompetent help and in failing to furnish a reasonably safe place to work, and that defendant failed to furnish any reasonable safeguard or protection against falling.

The trial resulted in a verdict for plaintiff for $12,000 and, after…