Fellow-servant rule

Some of the most important contributions of organized labor to the safety movement were their work to overturn workplace anti-labor laws relating to safety. These laws were the fellow servant rule, the statutes defining contributory negligence, and the concept of assumption of risk. Each is briefly explained in the following bullets. 

The fellow servant rule held that employers were not liable for workplace injuries that resulted from the negligence of other employees. For example, if... 

Fellow Servant Rule When assumption of risk and contributory negligence were not enough, employers often used a third line of defense. Under common law, servants (employees) had certain duties toward each other. An employer could try to show that a fellow employee was negligent and caused the injury of a coworker. For example, suppose one worker fed material into a machine and another worker removed the material after the machine completed some action on it. Suppose also that the first worker accidentally started the machine and thereby injured the hands of the second worker. The first worker was negligent in a duty of care for the coworker and caused the injury. The employer was not responsible for the injury. 

Early legislation tried to increase employer responsibility by removing some of the common law defenses assumption of risk and the fellow servant rule. Some liability laws also changed contributory negligence to comparative negligence and allowed juries to determine whether the employer or employee was more negligent. Under Employer Liability Acts, the injured worker had to take his claim to court. The worker had to find fellow workers who would risk... 

Fellow-servant rule. The employer is not at fault because the accident was the fault of another employee or other employees. 

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