Cush v. Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway Co.

157 F. Supp. 360, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2508
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 27, 1957
DocketCiv. A. 14305
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 157 F. Supp. 360 (Cush v. Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cush v. Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway Co., 157 F. Supp. 360, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2508 (W.D. Pa. 1957).

Opinion

McILVAINE, District Judge.

The plaintiff in this case instituted action against the Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway Company, hereinafter referred to as the P. C. & Y. Railway, alleging a violation of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 51 et seq., the Safety Appliance Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq., and the Boiler Inspection Act, 45 U.S.C.A. § 22 et seq., claiming that the cutting lever on a car did not work properly and as a result thereof he suffered injuries. Thereafter, the P. C. & Y. Railway filed a third party complaint against both Shenango Penn Mold Company, hereinafter referred to as Shenango, and against the Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Company, hereinafter referred to as Pittsburgh Coke.

The basis of P. C. & Y. Railway’s third party complaint is stated in the fourth paragraph of the third party complaint as follows:

“4. The third party plaintiff is informed and believes and therefore alleges that Shenango Penn Mold Company, one of the third party defendants, has entered into an agreement with the Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Company, the other third party defendant, whereby the Pittsburgh Chemical and Coke Company has undertaken to maintain and inspect said ladle car No. 7 in order that it may be safely used and in order that it may at all times conform with the standards set by the Safety Appliance Act and related statutes of the United States in order to protect the employes of railroad companies using said car.”

Shenango has filed its answer to the complaint. However, Pittsburgh Coke has moved to dismiss the third party complaint because they allege that it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Where such a motion is filed, the facts alleged in the third party complaint must be taken as true. Gartner v. Lombard Bros., 3 Cir., 1952, 197 F.2d 53. The question as we see it is whether or not P. C. & Y. Railway has made out in its pleadings a case on which if the facts are developed P. C. & Y. Railway can recover all or part from Pittsburgh Coke what it may be called upon to pay Cush.

Numerous briefs and reply briefs have been filed by the parties setting forth their position. P. C. & Y. Railway maintains that it is entitled to recover from Pittsburgh Coke under the theory that Pittsburgh Coke is liable to them for supplying a defective or dangerous chattel. In its brief P. C. & Y. Railway takes the position that the Restatement of Restitution, § 93, meets the basic contention of the third party defendant head on. With this we are inclined to agree; however, a thorough reading of Section 93 and the comments thereto indicate that the third party plaintiff, P. C. & Y. Railway, cannot recover from Pittsburgh Coke. The illustration cited in the Restatement is as close as any case could possibly come to the case before the Court. The comment and the illustration are as follows:

“c. The rule stated in this Section is limited to situations where one of two tortfeasors, as between themselves, is justified in relying [362]*362upon the other’s assurance of safety. Thus where a carrier has failed to make a proper inspection of a car and delivers it to a connecting carrier which incurs liability to an employee or other person because of its negligence in failing to make an inspection upon receiving the ear, the connecting carrier is not entitled to be indemnified by the first carrier since, as between the two, it was not entitled to assume that the car was in a safe condition.
“7. The A railroad receives a ear from a connecting railroad with a dangerously defective coupler. A carelessly fails to inspect the coupler and delivers the car in the same condition to B, another railroad, which also negligently fails to inspect the coupler. As the result of its defective condition, C, employed by B, is hurt and obtains judgment against B which B satisfies. Even though A were liable to C for the harm to him, B would not be entitled to indemnity from A because even as between the two, B would not be entitled to assume the couplers to be in a safe condition.”

It, therefore, appears to this Court that the P. C. & Y. Railway has not stated a claim based on Section 93 of the Restatement of Restitution on which relief can be granted because it was clear that a common carrier may not rely upon another’s assurance of safety, if any were given in this case, as the Safety Appliance Act imposes the duty on the railroad. Thus, there is not a restitutional remedy that would permit P. C. & Y. Railway to bring the third party defendant into the case. However, the Restatement points out that in addition to the restitutional remedy there may be an action of tort based upon a breach of the duty by the supplier. See Restatement, Restitution, § 93(e). These rules of liability of a supplier are grouped and summarized in the Restatement of Torts, beginning with § 388 to § 393. P. C. & Y. Railway relies on these and also the case of Sieracki v. Seas Shipping Co., 3 Cir., 1945, 149 F.2d 98. However, their complaint only charges that Pittsburgh Coke supplied a car for use in interstate commerce which car failed to meet the requirements of the Safety Appliance Act. This allegation does not bring the case within any of the Sections of the Restatement relied upon by P. C. & Y. Railway, nor within the Sieracki case wherein liability was imposed on the defendants as a manufacturer. See page 100, Section 388 of the Restatement only imposes liability when the supplier knows that the chattel is dangerous for its intended use and has no reason to believe that those who use it will realize its dangerous condition, and fails to exercise reasonable care to inform those persons of its dangerous condition. No such allegation is contained in the third party complaint. Section 389 of the Restatement imposes liability where the supplier knows that the chattel is unlikely to be made reasonably safe before being put to use to which supplier should expect it to be put. Thus, to impose liability there must be a substantial probability that the chattel will be used without being put in proper condition. Certainly the supplier would not suspect that a railroad company who has such a high duty under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act would permit any such thing to be done. See Comment (c), Restatement, Tort, § 389. Certainly there is no allegation that the chattel would be used by a person known to be incompetent so as to impose liability under § 390, nor is there any allegation that the car was known to be dangerous for the use for which it was supplied so as to impose liability under § 391 of the Restatement. Nor is there an allegation that the supplier has failed to exercise reasonable care to make the chattel safe for the use it was supplied or that the supplier failed to give information required by § 388 of the Restatement of Torts so as to impose the liability set forth in § 392 of the Restatement of Torts. Accordingly, there can be no liability under § 393 of the Restatement of Torts.

In the Sieracki case on which P. C. & Y. Railway relies the liability was im[363]*363posed on the defendants as a manufacturer. Sieracki v. Seas Shipping Co., supra, 149 F.2d at page 100. Here there is no allegation that the Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Company should be held liable as a manufacturer of this car.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
157 F. Supp. 360, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2508, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cush-v-pittsburgh-chartiers-youghiogheny-railway-co-pawd-1957.