Kohn v. McNulta’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

66 federal appellate · 3 district · 54 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 142 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Where an employe is not placed by an employer in a position of undisclosed danger, but is a mature man, doing the ordinary work which he was engaged to do, and whose risks are obvious to anyone, he assumes the risks of the employment, and no negligence can be imputed to an employer for an accident to him therefrom.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Southern Pacific Co. v. Seley · Baker v. Barber Asphalt Pav. Co.

2. ““The intervener was twenty-six years of age. lie had heen working as a blacksmith for about six years before entering into the employ of the defendant. He had heen engaged in this work of coupling' cars in the company's yard for over two months before the accident, and was therefore familiar with the tracks and condition of the yard, and not inexperienced in the business. He claims that the Wabash freight cars, which constituted hy far the larger number of cars which passed through that yard, had none of those deadwoods or bumpers; but inasmuch as ho bad in fact seen and coupled cars like the ones that caused the accident, and that more than once, and as the deadwoods were obvious to any one attempting to make the coupling, and the danger from them apparent, it must be held that it was one of the risks which he assumed in entering upon the service.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Southern Pac. Co. v. Burke · Detroit Crude-Oil Co. v. Grable

3. ““It is not pretended that. these cars were out of repair, or in a defective condition, hut simply that they vs ere constructed differently from the Wabash cars, in that they had double deadwoods or bumpers of unusual length to protect the drawbars. But all this was obvious to even a passing glance, and the risk which there was in coupling such cars was apparent. It required no special skill or knowledge to detect it. The intervener was no boy, placed by the employer in a position of undisclosed danger, but a mature man, doing' tbe ordinary work which he had engaged to do, and whose risks in this respect were obvious to any one. Under those circumstances he assumed the risk of such an accident as this, and no negligence can be imputed to the employer.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Peirce v. Bane · Morris & Co. v. Pechenka