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Show Reader's Courtroom Loafing Worker - Tardy Teacher -- Unpredictable Dog By Will Bernard, LL.B State lawi vary. For personal guidance, see your local attorney. If a Workman Gets Hurt While Loafing, May He Collect Compensation? A man worked as a night watchman watch-man in a machinery warehouse. One warm night, feeling drowsy, he placed a chair by an open window and settled down for a nap. During his slumber, he began to twist and turn. Suddenly the chair tipped over and dumped its occupant right out the window! Luckily the window win-dow wasn't far above the ground, so the man wasn't seriously injured. However he filed a claim for workmen's work-men's compensation for the cuts and bruises he had suffered. But the court granted him nothing. The i judge said a man cannot expect to I be compensated for an injury that I happened while he was loafing instead in-stead of working. Could a Teacher Be Fired For Tardiness? A man was hired as the only teacher for a little red schoolhouse in the country. As it happened, this I man loved to sleep late in the morning and was late for classes as often as not. To make matters worse, he had the key to the school-house school-house and the pupils had to wait outside until he arrived! After several sev-eral months of this conduct, the school board fired him. He promptly prompt-ly sued for his salary, saying that he had been "doing his best" to get to school on time. But the court upheld the board's action. The judge said that coming late to school was not one of the privilege of a teacher! Is a Grocer to Blame If a Customer Is Bitten by a Dog? A man walked into a grocery store one morning with a bulldog on a leash. The dog stood quietly, while his master made a purchase. Suddenly, without warning, the animal ani-mal snapped at a woman customer, leaving tooth marks in her leg. The woman sued the grocer for damages, dam-ages, blaming him for allowing such a "viscious beast" in the store. However, the court turned down her claim. The judge said that, until the woman had actually been bitten, the grocer had no way of knowing that the dog had such nasty disposition! May a Girl be Expelled From Finishing School For Eloping? An 18-year-old girl was sent to an exclusive "finishing school for girls." One week-end, she went off with a boy friend, got married, and came back to school. But her secret soon leaked out, and the school authorities au-thorities summarily expelled her. Later the girl's parents sued to get back her tuition, claiming that the expulsion was illegal. But the court felt otherwise and upheld the school's action. If a Scrubwoman Kneels On a Bottle Cap, May She Collect Damages? A small tavern hired a woman to scrub the floors every evening, after the place closed. One night, while the woman was scourirfg the floor, she accidentally put one knee down upon an upturned bottle bot-tle cap. Painfully cut, she sued the tavern owner for damages. However, How-ever, the court held the owner not liable. The judge pointed out that bottle caps are "nothing unusual" on the floor of a tavern so the woman should have been more careful where she knelt. A housewife had an insurance policy paying $25 per month in case she became "totally disabled." When she developed a severe case of arthritis in both feet, the woman put in a claim for the insurance. The company refused to pay, insisting in-sisting that she was not "totally disabled." The woman admitted she could do a little housework occasionally, oc-casionally, but she said and her doctor confirmed that she was in constant agony whenever she was on her feet. The court decided that she was entitled to the money. |