Velotta v. Yampa Valley Coal Co.

The parties, plaintiffs and defendant occupy the same relative positions in the trial court and in this court. The plaintiffs’ action is for damages occasioned by reason of the accidental death of their son, Tony Velotta, a boy of fifteen years of age, while serving as an employee of defendant company. At the close of all testimony offered by both plaintiffs and defendant, the court directed a verdict for the defendant, and this is the error assigned.

The defendant company was engaged in the operation of a coal mine in Routt county. It used a ground tramway extending for a distance of about…