“These three common law defenses, contributory negligence, fellow servant rule, and assumption of the risk, became known as the ‘three wicked sisters,’ because of their preclusive effect on the ability of injured workers to recover…. By precluding application of the traditional respondeat superior concept for acts of fellow servants and by presuming that workers assumed the risks associated with their employment, courts made it extremely difficult for employees to recover from their employers for the increasing number of work-related injuries…. By the late 1800s, courts began to recognize the harsh results generated by rote application of the fellow servant, assumption of the risk, and contributory negligence doctrines.” Mark A. Rothstein et al., Employment Law § 7.2, at 404 (1994).
three wicked sisters
three wicked sisters. Slang. The three doctrines — contributory negligence, the fellow-servant rule, and assumption of the risk — used by 19th-century courts to deny recovery to workers injured on the job.
