St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co. v. True

1918 OK 647, 176 P. 758, 71 Okla. 264, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 937
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 19, 1918
Docket8627
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1918 OK 647 (St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co. v. True) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry. Co. v. True, 1918 OK 647, 176 P. 758, 71 Okla. 264, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 937 (Okla. 1918).

Opinion

KANE, J.

This was an action for damages for personal injuries commenced by the defendant in error, plaintiff below, against the plaintiff in error, defendant below.

Hereafter, for convenience, the parties will be designated “plaintiff’’ and “defendant,” respectively, as they appeared in the trial court. Upon trial to a jury there was a verdict for the plaintiff in the sum of $20,000, upon which judgment was duly entered, to reverse which this proceeding in error was commenced.

The grounds for reversal relied upon by counsel for the defendant, arranged in slightly different order by the court, are summarized in their brief as follows:

(1) Defendant’s demurrer to plaintiff’s petition was well taken and should have been sustained for the reason that the petition d’ -ehsos upon its face that the defendant at the time of his alleged injury was engaged in interstate commerce and that his right to recover for same, if such right existed, was governed by the provisions of the federal Employer’s Diability Act (Act April 22, 1908 c. 149. 35 Stat. 65 U. S. Comp. St 1916, §§ 8657-8665]), and that therefore the laws of the state of Arkansas, upon which the plain, tiff’s action was based, do not apply.

(2) The court erred in admitting in evidence certain sections of the 1911 Session Laws of the state of Arkansas, and in permitting the plaintiff to amend his reply so as to plead section/ 5 of No. 88 of the 1911 Session Laws of the state of Arkansas.

(3) The court erred in refusing- to give instructions numbered 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 requested by the defendant.

(4) The court erred in giving instructions numbered 1, 2, 4, 5, 6. 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 given upon its own motion.

(5) The testimony in the case is .not sufficient to, and does not, disclose such a state of facts as to show (except as a matter of speculation) that the condition of the plaintiff’s eyes was approximately the result of the motorcar collision, of which he complains.

(6) The verdict of the jury is excessive and appears to have been given under the influence of passion and prejudice.

The facts necessary to present the principal grounds for reversal, presented for review, may be briefly stated as follows:

On September 28. 1912, the defendant was a common carrier, engaged in interstate commerce, one of its lines of railroad running through Lexi and Barton, two towns in the state of Arkansas situated five miles apart. One of the roundhouses of the defendant was located at Lexi, and the men employed therein resided at Barton. At the time the plaint;ff was injured, he was in the employ of the defendant as division foreman at this roundhouse; his general duties consisting of directing the labor and superintending the making of all necessary “running repairs” bn defendants’ engines and cars taken temporarily off the road and sent to the roundhouse f( r that purpose, which engines and cars were used interchangeably in either interstate or intrastate commerce. The work in the roundhouse required both a night and a day shift of men, and, in addition to plain, tiff’s general duties, he was required to convey both shifts to and from their work, on a gasoline motorcar. Under the rules of the company, the day shift left the roundhouse at 6 o’clock p. m.. and it was plaintiff’s duty to he there at that time and convey them in the motor-driven car furnished by the defendant to Barton, and there get the night crew and bring them back to the roundhouse in time for them to go to work at 7 o’clock p. m., after which his duties for the day ended. While plaintiff was nearing Lexi *266 with the night crew on the car, they ran upon a cow laying on the track, which could not be seen, owing to the darkness, and the alleged negligence of defendant in failing to furnish proper lights for the car, which, on request of plaintiff, defendant had promised but failed to supply.

The particular work which the crew was to perform after arriving at' Lexi was not shown, except that they were required to do whatever might be found to be done in the roundhouse and yards under the direction of their foreman; and whether they were expected to work on” an engine or car used wholly in ■ interstate commerce, or whether they were to work on an engine Or car used wholly in interstate commence, or whether they would work on implements used both in intrastate and interstate commerce, the evidence does not disclose.

As to the nature and extent of his injuries, the plaintiff alleged, in substance: That immediately after the collision he was taken to a hospital where, among .other injuries, it was discovered that a small stone about the size of a grape had been imbedded in his skull; that, although at the time this injury was not regarded as serious, almost immediately after its infliction he commenced to experience severe pains through his head, and especially on the right side thereof passing through his right temple into his right eye; that said pains progressively continued to grow more frequent and more severe until the 9th day of May, 1914, at which time he lost completely and permanently the sight of his right eye; that about ten days thereafter as a result of said pains, which were caused by and were the direct and proximate result of said collision, he lost completely and permanently the sight of his left eye, since which date he has been permanently totally blind. Where the statement of additional facts may be found necessary for the consideration of any particular assignment of errors, they will be made when such assignment is reached for consideration in due order.

The first question presented for review, Was the plaintiff engaged in commerce between the states at the time of his injury, within the meaning of the Employers’ Liability Act? has been often under consideration by both the state and federal courts. Whilst the federal Supreme Court has now established an auilioriiarive lost for the determination of this question, the application of this test to the varied circumstances of each case is not entirely free from difficulty, as an examination of the authorities will amply disclose. It would not be useful to discuss at length the numerous..decisions in which this question has received consideration, for no ease exactly resembles another, and slight differences of fact may be of great importance. In view of this, we will confine our citation of authorities to the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and will notice only such of these as we find helpful in applying the established general rule to our case.

The approved test of employment in such commerce, as stated by the Supreme Court, is:

“Was the employe at the time of the injury engaged in interstate transportation or in work so closely related to it as to be practically a part of it?” Shanks v. Railroad Co., 239 U. S. 556, 36 Sup. Ct. 188, 60 L. Ed. 436 L. R. A. 1916C. 797.

Applying this test, the Supreme Court has held that the requisite employment in interstate commerce exists where a car repairer is replacing a drawbar in a car then in use in such commerce (Walsh v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co., 223 U. S. 132, 32 Sup, Ct. 169, 56 L. Ed. 327, 38 L. R. A.

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Bluebook (online)
1918 OK 647, 176 P. 758, 71 Okla. 264, 1918 Okla. LEXIS 937, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-louis-i-m-s-ry-co-v-true-okla-1918.