Common employment was an historical defence in
English tort law
English tort law concerns the compensation for harm to people's rights to health and safety, a clean environment, property, their economic interests, or their reputations. A "tort" is a wrong in civil, rather than criminal law, that usually requ ...
that said workers implicitly undertook the risks of being injured by their co-workers, with whom they were in "common employment". The
US labor law
United States labor law sets the rights and duties for employees, labor unions, and employers in the United States. Labor law's basic aim is to remedy the "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers, especially employers "org ...
terminology was the "fellow servant rule".
Development
The operation of the doctrine
was seen first in ''
Priestly v Fowler'' in the United Kingdom. In the United States the doctrine was seen in ''
Farwell v. Boston & Worcester R.R. Corp''.
Bunker Hill Mining Company
The Bunker Hill Mining Company is a mining company with facilities in Kellogg and Wardner, Idaho.
Early history
Simeon Reed bought the Bunker Hill Mine and Mill, and incorporated the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company on ...
operated by the fellow servant doctrine. According to Katherine Aiken, "persons engaged in the same common pursuit for the same employer were fellow servants and companies were not liable for injuries where a fellow servant was at fault. Thus, either the miner himself or his coworker was ultimately responsible for accidents." Between March 1893 and Feb. 1894, 15 fatalities occurred at the mine.
It was abolished altogether by the
Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948
The Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed during the Labour Attlee ministry, government of Clement Attlee. It improved the legal position of employees suffering f ...
in the United Kingdom.
The doctrine has been superseded in the United States by
worker's compensation
Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...
laws, by which a worker can file for a
quasi-tort
Quasi-tort is a legal term that is sometimes used to describe unusual tort actions, on the basis of a legal doctrine that some legal duty exists which cannot be classified strictly as negligence in a personal duty resulting in a tort nor as a contr ...
, regardless of their co-worker's fault.
See also
*
Contributory negligence
In some common law jurisdictions, contributory negligence is a defense to a tort claim based on negligence. If it is available, the defense completely bars plaintiffs from any recovery if they contribute to their own injury through their own negl ...
*''
Volenti non fit injuria
''Volenti non fit iniuria'' (or ''injuria'') (Latin: "to a willing person, injury is not done") is a common law doctrine which states that if someone willingly places themselves in a position where harm might result, knowing that some degree of h ...
''
*''
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio
' (Latin "from a dishonorable cause an action does not arise") is a legal doctrine which states that a plaintiff will be unable to pursue legal relief and damages if it arises in connection with their own tortious act. Particularly relevant in t ...
''
*
Albro v. Agawam Canal Co.(1850)
References
English tort law
Legal doctrines and principles
United Kingdom labour law
English legal terminology
{{England-law-stub
es:Volenti non fit injuria
he:הסתכנות מרצון