Ploof v. Putnam
Supreme Court of Vermont
Trespass and case for damages resulting from unmooring plaintiff’s sloop from defendant’s dock. Plea, the general issue. Trial by jury at the March Term, 1909, Chittenden County, Taylor, J., presiding. Verdict and judgment for the plaintiff. The defendant excepted.
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Trespass and case for damages resulting from unmooring plaintiff’s sloop from defendant’s dock. Plea, the general issue. Trial by jury at the March Term, 1909, Chittenden County, Taylor, J., presiding. Verdict and judgment for the plaintiff. The defendant excepted. The evidence showed that on November 13, 1904, defendant owned an island in Lake Champlain and a certain dock thereto attached, both of which were in charge of a caretaker in defendant’s employ; that plaintiff on that date was sailing on the lake a sloop, in which were his wife and two minor children, when a sudden storm arose,…
1Opinion of the CourtPowers, J.
It was formerly held, usually on the authority of McManus v. Crickett, 1 East 106, that a master was not answerable for the wilful or malicious act of his servant, though done in the line of the servant’s duties, unless he directed or assented to it. Accordingly, it was said by Aldis, J., in Andrus v. Howard, 36 Vt. 248, that “the master is not liable for the wilful wrong or trespass of the servant, though the act be done while employed in the business of his master.” But this doctrine is now pretty generally repudiated, and it has come to be well settled that a master is liable for the act…
2Cases cited7 opinions
- Brennan v. Merchant & Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1903
- Columbus Railroad v. WoolfolkSupreme Court of Georgia · 1907
- Palmer v. Village of St. AlbansSupreme Court of Vermont · 1888
- Letts v. Hoboken Railroad, Warehouse & Steamship Connecting Co.Supreme Court of New Jersey · 1904
- Andrus v. HowardSupreme Court of Vermont · 1863
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- Fanciullo v. B. G. & S. Theatre Corp.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1937
- Friedell v. Blakely Printing Co.Supreme Court of Minnesota · 1925
- Ronan v. J. G. Turnbull Co.Supreme Court of Vermont · 1926
- Sweet v. RoySupreme Court of Vermont · 2002
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