Marlatt v. Erie Railroad Company

Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of -the Supreme Court in the fourth judicial department, entered April 3, 1914, affirming a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a verdict in an action to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff through the negligence of defendant. ' Plaintiff was injured by the sudden stoppage of a freight train on which he was a passenger. The accident occurred while he was traveling from Canisteo, N. Y., to Newark, N. J., in charge of a double-deck carload of livestock. The defense was that the stock was shipped under a written contract which prevents a recovery and that there is no liability even though plaintiff is not prohibited from recovering by the contract, and was lawfully upon the train, because the accident resulted from a defective condition of the air brake system known as a sticky triple valve which a reasonable inspection had failed to disclose. The contract urged as a defense was not made by the parties to this action. It was made between Scott & Lewis as shippers and the New York and Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Plaintiff claimed he had no knowledge that any contract had been made or was required.