Farwell established that workers assumed job risks priced into their wages

Evidence

The leading American case was Farwell v. Boston & Worcester Railroad Corporation (1842). Farwell was a railroad engineer, working for a wage of $2 a day. A switchman carelessly allowed a train to run off the track. Farwell was thrown to the ground “with great violence,” and one of the wheels of the car crushed his right hand. He sued the railroad, claiming the switchman was negligent. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw of Massachusetts wrote a brilliant opinion denying recovery. Shaw argued that the workman who takes on a dangerous job must be held to have assumed the ordinary risks of the job. In theory, the wage rate included an adjustment for the added danger. Since that was so, the risk must be left on the person who had, for a price, voluntarily taken it on. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1792

Categorization

• XREF: A concrete named case with reasoning students will compare against later liability regimes in the course. — connects to: Fear of unemployment disciplines workers into subordination to capital. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 250

Broader Connections

• Fear of unemployment disciplines workers into subordination to capital. #expands (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 250