Freed v. Erie Lackawanna Railway Co.

Freed (plaintiff), a railway brakeman, was injured by a train with no lookout posted on its lead car and sued Erie (defendant) under the Federal Employers' Liability Act. Erie's interrogatory answer stated the train was outside the yard limits at the time of the accident — which would have meant Erie violated the safety rule requiring a lookout outside yard limits — but at trial Erie testified the train was actually within the yard limits. The jury asked the court to clarify which answer controlled, but the court declined to answer, and the jury found for Erie.