Walker v. Iowa Cent. Ry. Co.

241 F. 395, 1916 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 955
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Iowa
DecidedOctober 3, 1916
DocketNo. 33
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 241 F. 395 (Walker v. Iowa Cent. Ry. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. Iowa Cent. Ry. Co., 241 F. 395, 1916 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 955 (S.D. Iowa 1916).

Opinions

REED, District Judge

(after stating the facts as above). [1] The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly stated and heid what is necessary for an employé or his personal representatives to allege and prove to warrant a recovery under the Employers’ Liability Act of Congress for an injury suffered by the employé while in the service of the carrier in such commerce. In Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Behrens, 233 U. S. 473, 34 Sup. Ct. 646, 58 L. Ed. 1051, Ann. Cas. 1914C, 163, Mr. Justice Van Devanter, speaking for the court, said of this question:

“Passing from the question of power [to enact the Employers’ Liability Act| to that of its exercise, we find that the controlling provision in the act of April 22, 1908, reads as follows: ‘Section 1. That every common carrier by railroad while engaging in commerce between any of the several states * * * shall he liable in damages to any.person suffering injury while he Is employed by such carrier in such commerce, or, in case of the death of such employé. to Ms or her personal representative, * * * for such injury or death resulting in whole or in part from the negligence of any of the officers, agents, or employés of such carrier, or by reason of any defect or insufficiency, due to its negligence, in its ears, engines, appliances, machinery, track, roadbed.’ * * * Giving to the words suffering injury while lie is employed by such carrier In such commerce, their'natural meaning, as we think must be done, it is clear that Congress intended to confine its action to injuries occurring when the particular service in which the employé is engaged is a part of interstate commerce. ® * * ‘There can be no doubt that a right oí recovery thereunder arises only where the injury is suffered while the carrier is engaged in interstate commerce and while the employé is employed by the carrier in such commerce.’ i; * * ‘The true test always is: Is the work in question a part of the interstate commerce in which the carrier is engaged?’ ”

And see C., B. & Q. R. Co. v. Harrington, 241 U. S. 177, 36 Sup. Ct. 517, 60 L. Ed. 941.

Two essential facts, therefore, are necessary for such a recovery: (1) The carrier, at the time of the injury, must be engaged in interstate commerce; and (2) the employé at the time of his injury must also be employed by the carrier in such commerce. Both the carrier and the employé must therefore, at the time of the injury of the latter, be engaged in such commerce, and it must be distinctly so alleged in the petition or complaint. Inasmuch as the carrier may be engaged in both interstate and intrastate commerce at the same time, there is difficulty in many cases in determining in advance of the trial that the carrier and the employé, at the time the latter suffers an injury, are each engaged in what is termed “interstate commerce by railroad,” and [398]*398•much liberality is very properly exercised in the granting of amendments to pleadings to state the facts; but this must not be permitted to an extent that will defeat the substantial rights of either party.

[2] The cause of action as alleged in the original petition, upon which the cause was tried in the Circuit Court, is in two counts, and will be best understood by stating the substantial allegations thereof. Count 1, omitting the formal parts and repetitions, alleges in substance :

That the defendant Iowa Central Railway Company is a railway corporation organized under the laws of Illinois, and operates a line of railway in and through the state of Iowa, entering the state at a point on the Mississippi . river near Oakville, thence running through several counties, including the counties of Mahaska and Poweshiek, and leaving the state at its northern boundary near the city of Northwood, Iowa; that defendants Helm and Sehreve were at the times hereinafter mentioned employés of the railway company as engineer and conductor, respectively, in charge and control of one of its trains causing the injuries hereinafter referred to; that about the 8th day of December, 1908. this plaintiff was in the employ of the defendant railway company at its station in New Sharon, Mahaska county, Iowa, as day operator; that it was plaintiff’s duty as a part of said employment to assist in the loading and unloading of outgoing and incoming baggage; that the defendant railway company provided for such use a vehicle commonly called a baggage truck; that the depot at New Sharon is located within the city limits of said city, and extends northward to a public thoroughfare which crosses the tracks of the defendant company; that the depot platform is nearly upon a level with the railroad tracks, and within about a foot of the rails thereof; that said depot is a public place, where people are invited to come, and where a great amount of business is transacted, and many passengers taken care of, and is a much-frequented place; that for about a mile to the north of said depot the track of the railway is practically straight and the view unobstructed ; that on the date above mentioned one of the company’s engines and train of cars were standing immediately west of the depot on what is known as the “Newton Branch”; that said engine was emitting steam and causing much noise; that there had been heavy snowfalls prior to December 8, 1908, accompanied with thaws and freezing, and the railway company negligently and carelessly permitted the snow and ice to accumulate upon the platform. Under these conditions the plaintiff in pursuance of his duties took the baggage truck (before mentioned) from a point on the platform at the north end of the depot and was pushing the same south through the snow and ice along the platform on the east side of the depot, in order to properly handle the baggage for the Newton train, standing on the west side of the depot; that while in the act of so doing, in the strict performance of his duties, and in the exercise of due care, one of the company’s engines and trains in charge of defendants Helm and Sehreve approached said station from the north at a high and dangerous rate of speed in violation of an ordinance of the town of New Sharon, without blowing the whistle, ringing the bell, or in any manner apprising the plaintiff or the people at the station of its approach, and while the defendant company and its codefendants were in a position to see the people, and it was their duty to see and look out for persons in or near the track while passing through the stations, and, so seeing and so knowing, the defendants negligently and carelessly, and without any regard to plaintiff’s rights, ran said engine into the plaintiff, knocking him-down, from which he received permanent, dangerous, and serious injuries, crushing, bruising, and mangling the plaintiff’s left arm to such an extent that amputation thereof was necessary to save his life; that by reason of the foregoing the plaintiff demands judgment against defendants in the sum of twenty thousand dollars.

Count 2 is 'in all essentials the same as count one. .

The defendants separately aijswered both counts of the petition, admitting that the railway- company is a corporation organized under [399]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
241 F. 395, 1916 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 955, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-iowa-cent-ry-co-iasd-1916.