141 Wis. 294 | Wis. | 1910
It is urged that it was competent for the plaintiff to prove the general reputation of Lesch among his fellow-servants for recklessness, and likewise his general reputation as to being careless in the use of "gasoline, for the purpose of showing that if the defendant had exercised ordinary care it would have discovered such incompetency. The court admitted a portion of the evidence offered, excluded other portions, and finally held it all incompetent.
Sufficient evidence to warrant a jury in finding that the servant was incompetent should be offered before evidence of
It is further urged that there was sufficient evidence, aside from that offered to show general reputation, to warrant- the
Evidence was offered tending to show that, for the period of one year or more that Lesch was employed as a molder before the accident, he had frequently thrown gasoline on fires in the molds; that he had'been upbraided once and probably twice by one of the defendant’s foremen for so doing; that the foremen were very frequently in the portion of the shop, in which Lesch was employed, and many times every day passed by where he was working; and that one of the proprietors, during a very considerable portion of the time, occupied a position where he could observe generally what was going on in the factory; as well as some other facts that were calculated to give notice to the defendant of Lesch’s habitual carelessness in the use of so dangerous an element as gasoline. If, in addition to these facts, it be shown that Lesch had a general reputation among those with whom he worked for being habitually careless in using gasoline in the manner stated, we think it was for the jury to say whether, in the exercise of ordinary care, the defendant should not have discovered that Lesch was an incompetent servant and whether the defendant was negligent in failing to discharge him.
■By the Court. — The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the cause is remanded for a new trial.