Kerrigan v. Carroll

Urner, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. In this suit, by the appellant against the appellee and his wife and infant son, the cause of action is thus alleged in the amended declaration: “For that the plaintiff, at the time of the commission of the wrongs and injuries hereinafter mentioned, was an employee in the capacity of housekeeper and domestic servant, in the household of the defendants, Douglas Gordon Carroll, Sr., and Mrs. Douglas Gordon Carroll. “And for that the plaintiff, as such employee of the defendants, the said Douglas Gordon Carroll, Sr., and Mrs. Douglas Gordon Carroll, was required to take orders and instructions from each of said defendants, and that by virtue of said employment it was, and became the duty of said defendants, the said Douglas Gordon Carroll, Sr., and Mrs. Douglas Gordon Carroll, to provide the said plaintiff with a reasonably safe and proper place in which to work, and to refrain from exposing the said plaintiff to unnecessary risk and danger in the performance of her said duties as housekeeper and domestic servant of the said defendants. “And the plaintiff says that on or about June 21,1931, while pursuing her usual and ordinary duties in connection with her said employment by the said defendants, she was directed by Mrs. Douglas Gordon Carroll, one of the defendants herein, and at that time in charge of said household, and at that time acting as the agent of the said Douglas Gordon Carroll, Sr., in connection with the management and operation of said household to procure ⁶⁸⁴ and bring to her from the household, to the lawn thereabouts, a certain container of gasoline, whereupon in pursuance of such direction the plaintiff brought said container of gasoline to the said Mrs. Douglas Gordon Carroll, who immediately threw it upon and scattered it about the lawn adjacent to said household and before the said plaintiff could reach a place of safety, the said Douglas Gordon Carroll, Jr., an infant son of the other defendants herein, and living with them, ignited said gasoline so spread upon and scattered about said lawn, causing it to explode, in consequence of which the plaintiff’s clothing caught fire and the plaintiff was severely burned about her face and body. “And the plaintiff says that as a direct result of the negligence of said defendants, and each of them, in and about their respective duties and obligations to her, and without any negligence on her part thereto contributing, she has suffered severe and permanent injuries and has been and will