Papajesk v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co.

This appeal brings to the fore one of the most misunderstood doctrines in the law of negligence. There is apparent confusion in almost every cited case regarding the doctrine of gross negligence.

The facts in this case can appear rather complicated due to the complexity of the switching area where the incident occurred which gave rise to this dispute. For the purpose of this decision, they may be somewhat simplified as follows:

Plaintiff’s decedent was killed on February 5, 1962, between 10 and 11 a.m., when he was struck from the rear by some railroad gondola cars which were being pushed or…