Horton Conner v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, a Corporation

On March 13, 1953, plaintiff-appellant was one of a two man team repairing freight cars in the Union Pacific Railroad Company shops at its east yard near Los Angeles. At that time he was a regular employee of the company. On the particular morning the duties of the two required that they do some welding which involved the use of heavy duty electrical equipment. Upon completion of one welding job the plaintiff went alone to a large pole to disengage a rubber cable leading from a socket on the pole, the cable containing the electric wires which ran from the socket to the welding machine. The main length of the cable is the size of an ordinary garden hose. On the end of the cable making the connection at the socket, the cable expands into sort of a bulbous object about four inches in diameter. This bulbous end or plug fits into the socket on the pole. The underlying mechanical principle of the heavy industrial socket and plug used here is not unlike the ordinary household wall socket and appliance cord with plug.

While disengaging the cable with its plug from the socket on the pole, Conner claims that he sustained a back injury and that the injury was due to the socket being…