Teti v. Consolidated Coal Co. of Maryland

217 F. 443, 1914 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1514
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedOctober 13, 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 217 F. 443 (Teti v. Consolidated Coal Co. of Maryland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Teti v. Consolidated Coal Co. of Maryland, 217 F. 443, 1914 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1514 (N.D.N.Y. 1914).

Opinion

RAY, District Judge.

Under the allegations of the complaint Joseph Dastoli, plaintiff’s intestate in the second of the above entitled actions, died intestate in the village of Jenner, Somerset county, state of Pennsylvania, on the 14th day of October, 1913, and left him surviving a father, Salvatore Dastoli, and his mother, Carmela Dastoli, both of whom reside in the Kingdom of Italy, and no wife or children. It is not stated where the deceased resided at the time of his death, or whether or not he was an alien. It is not stated that the father and mother are aliens. March 27, 1913, the plaintiffs, Tomaino and Teti, were duly appointed administrators of the estate of said Joseph Dastoli by the surrogate of the county of Oneida, state of New York, but whether jurisdiction arose from his having and leaving personal property in Oneida county, N. Y., or from his being a resident in that county at the time of his death, does not appear. The defendant is a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the state of Maryland, and was operating coal mines in various states, particularly the state of Pensylvania, and was authorized to do business in the state of New York. On the 14th day of October, 1913, Joseph Dastoli was in the employ of the defendant in its mines as a miner in said county of Somerset, state of Pennsylvania, and through the neglect and carelessness of defendant the mine collapsed, and said Dastoli wTas instantly killed. The negligence is set out in detail. Damages are alleged and claimed in the sum of $25,000, and the complaint alleges as follows:

“And this action is brouglit for the sole benefit of the aforesaid next of kin who by the aforesaid wrongful acts of defendant’s plaintiff has sustained damages in the sum of $25,000.”

The laws of the state of Pennsylvania are set out in full so far as applicable here, and the material parts thereof and an allegation of the complaint read as follows:

“Tenth. That the laws of Pennsylvania giving a cause for action for injuries causing death, are viz.:
“ ‘Wherever death shall be occasioned by unlawful violence or negligence and, no suit for damages be brought by the party injured during his lifetime, the widow of any such deceased, or if there be no widow, the personal representatives may maintain an action for and recover damages for the death thus occasioned.’ P. L. 1851, p. 674, § 19.
“ ‘The persons entitled to recover damages for any injury causing death, shall be the husband, widow, children, or parents of the deceased, and no other relative, and the sum recovered shall go to them in the proportion they would take his or her personal estate in case of intestacy, and that, without liability to creditors.’ P. L. 1855, p. 309, §‘ 1.
“ ‘The declaration shall state who are the parties entitled in such action; [446]*446the action shall be brought within one year after the death.' P. L. 1855, as last above.
“That the statutes enumerated and mentioned in this paragraph were, by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania of 1911 (page 678), relating to death by negligence and wrongful acts, modified and amended, thereby permitting a nonresident alien next of kin to bring, and maintain an action to recover damages for the negligent killing of an individual in the same mode and in the same manner as a citizen and resident of Pennsylvania can and could do in such a case.”

The demurrer to the complaint is “that it appears on the face thereof that the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.” In the action first above entitled, which we may call the Teti case, the deceased left a widow and child. The ground urged is that, as under the statutes and decisions of the state of Pennsylvania the recovery, if any, and fhe right of recovery, if any, is given to the “parents of the deceased,” in the Dastoli case they alone can sue or maintain the action; that the administrators appointed in the state of New York cannot maintain it or recover; that no cause of action in their favor or in favor of the estate they represent is stated; that they cannot make themselves trustees for any such purpose. On the other hand, the contention of the plaintiffs is and must be that, as here in the state of New York we have a similar statute giving a cause of action in such a case for the benefit of the father and mother when there is no widow or children, etc., and providing that the action must be brought in the name of and by the administrator for the benefit of such persons entitled, in a suit brought here to enforce the right of action and recovery given by the Pennsylvania statute to the father and mother residing in Italy, the New York procedure may be and should be followed, and the suit brought and prosecuted by the administrators appointed in the state of New York; that who shall bring and prosecute the action is a matter of procedure.

The Pennsylvania statute is not very clear as to who is to bring or prosecute the action. In Dennick v. Railroad Co., 103 U. S. 11, 26 L. Ed. 439, the action was to recover, under the statute of New Jersey, damages for death caused by the negligence of the defendant, and which statute is similar to that of New York. The action was brought in the state court of the state of New York and removed into the United States Circuit Court. I take it the deceased was a resident of the state of New York; at any rate letters of administration were taken out by the widow in that state. The accident and death occurred in New Jersey. Section 2 of the New Jersey act of March 3, 1848 (P. L. p. 151) provides “that every such action shall be brought by and in the names of the personal representatives of such deceased person.” The claim was that the action could be brought and maintained by an administrator appointed by the proper probate court in the state of New Jersey only. The court held this point not well taken; that the action could be brought and could be maintained by an administrator appointed in the state where the action was commenced.

In Stewart as Administrator, etc., v. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co., 168 U. S. 445, 18 Sup. Ct. 105, 42 L. Ed. 537, the action was brought and prosecuted in the District of Columbia to recover damages for death [447]*447caused by negligence given by a statute of the state of Maryland, and which negligence and death occurred in the state of Maryland. Casey, the deceased, left a widow, but no descendant or parent. The Maryland statute provides:

“Every such action shall he for the benefit of the wife * * * and shall "be brought by and in the name of the state of Maryland, for the use of the person entitled to damages,” etc.

[1, 2] The District of Columbia had a statute providing for recovery in case of death caused by negligence in the district, but provided “that the action shall be brought in the name of the personal representatives of the deceasedCode 1878, art. 67, subd. 15, § 2.

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Bluebook (online)
217 F. 443, 1914 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teti-v-consolidated-coal-co-of-maryland-nynd-1914.