fellow-servant rule
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 84 U.S. 553 - Railroad Company v. Fort · 1873Most cited · 93 citing opinions
This rule proceeds on the theory that the employ e, in entering the service of the principal, is presumed to take upon himself the risks incident to the undertaking, among which are to be counted the negligence of fellow servants in the same employment, and that considerations of public policy require the enforcement of the rule. But this presumption cannot arise where the risk is not within the contract of service, and the servant had no reason to believe he would have to encounter it.
How often courts cite the case defining “fellow-servant rule”
Court decisions citing the opinion that defined “fellow-servant rule” — 93 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining case as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.