Opinion
October 9, 1897.
PRESENT: Matteson, C.J., Stiness and Tillinghast, JJ.
The negligence of a fellow servant superior in rank, but into which the element of superiority as a servant does not enter, affords no cause of action against the employer.
ACTION OF TRESPASS on the case for negligence. Heard on demurrer to the declaration.
George A. Littlefield, for plaintiff.
George T. Brown, for defendant.
The declaration states a case merely of negligence of a fellow servant. The fact that the foreman who caused the accident was superior in rank to the plaintiff does not entitle him to sue the master, since the negligence alleged was the careless dropping of a hook by the foreman — an act into which the element of his superiority as a servant did not enter. Mann v. Oriental Print Works, 11 R.I. 152.
Demurrer sustained, and case remitted to the Common Pleas Division.