Minneapolis, St Ry Co v. Goneau, 76

• Decision Date: 04 January 1926
• Docket Number: No. 76,76
• Citation: 70 L.Ed. 335,269 U.S. 406,46 S.Ct. 129
• Parties: MINNEAPOLIS, ST. P. & S. S. M. RY. CO. v. GONEAU
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

269 U.S. 406

46 S.Ct. 129

70 L.Ed. 335

MINNEAPOLIS, ST. P. & S. S. M. RY. CO.

v GONEAU.

No. 76.

Argued Dec. 3, 1925.

Decided Jan. 4, 1926.

Messrs. J. E. Palmer, of Minneapolis, Minn., and Marshall A. Spooner, of Bimidji, Minn., for petitioner.

Mr. Samuel A. Anderson, of St. Paul, Minn., for respondent.

Mr. Justice SANFORD delivered the opinion of the Court.

The respondent Goneau brought suit in a Minnesota court to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by him while employed as a brakeman on a freight train of the Railway Company; the right of action being based upon the Employers' Liability Act of 1908, 35 Stat. 65, c. 149 (Comp. St. §§ 8657-8665), and the Safety Appliance Act of 1893, 27 Stat. 531, c. 196, as amended by the Act of 1903, 32 Stat. 943, c. 976 (Comp. St. §§ 8605-8615). He recovered judgment, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the State. Goneau v. Minneapolis, St. P. & S. S. M. R. Co., 159 Minn. 41, 198 N. W. 403, 405. The writ of certiorari was granted in June, 1924. 265 U. S. 579, 44 S. Ct. 638, 68 L. Ed. 1189.

A motion was interposed to dismiss the writ of certiorari, the further consideration of which was postponed to the hearing on the merits. We find that the motion is not well founded; and it is denied.

By section 2 of the original Safety Appliance Act (Comp. St. § 8606) as amended by the Act of 1903-upon which the respondent relies-it is made unlawful to haul or permit to be hauled or used on any railroad engaged in interstate commerce any car not equipped with automatic couplers which can be operated 'without the necessity of men going between the ends of the cars.' And by section 4 of the Employers' Liability Act (Comp. St. § 8660) it is provided that an employee shall not be held to have assumed the risks of his employment in any case where the violation by the carrier of any statute enacted for the safety of employees contributes to his injury or death.

By section 4 of the Supplemental Safety Appliance Act of 1910, 36 Stat. 298, c. 160 (Comp. St. § 8621)-upon which the petitioner relies-it is provided that where a car has been properly equipped and its equipment becomes defective while it is being used by the carrier upon its line of railroad, the car may be hauled, if necessary, from the place where the defect is first discovered to the nearest available point where it can be repaired, without liability for penalties,¹ but without releasing the carrier from liability for the injury of any employee caused by or in connection with the hauling of the car with such defective equipment.

It is admitted that the Railway Company was engaged in interstate commerce, and that Goneau was employed in such commerce. There was substantial evidence tending to show the following state of facts: Goneau was the rear brakeman on a freight train which broke in two, between stations, in the night time; the two sections of the train stopping a few feet apart, on a narrow wooden bridge with open ties. The breaking of the train was caused by a defective coupler on the rear end of the last car in the front section. The defect was in the carrier iron, a bar or plate bolted cross-wise under the drawbar, which held the coupler in a position where it would interlock with that of the opposite car. Several bolts of this carrier iron were missing, and the nut had come off the bolt holding up one of its ends,-the threads being battered and partly stripped,-so that this end had fallen off the bolt and swung back slantingly underneath the drawbar, causing the coupler to drop down so that it no longer interlocked; and thus breaking the train in two. When the train stopped, Goneau, on an order from the conductor, went forward to ascertain the trouble; and, after he had discovered it, undertook, as was his duty, to get the train coupled up again so that it could proceed on its journey. To make the coupling it was necessary to get the carrier iron back in place so as to hold the coupler in a position where it would interlock. He made an effort to do this by pulling the carrier iron back into a right angled position and placing wooden wedges or 'shims' which he found on the bank, between it and the drawbar. This raised the coupler so that it would partially interlock. Upon his signals, the cars were then coupled together and the train started upon its journey. But after proceeding a few feet, it again broke and the two sections stopped a second time upon the bridge. Finding the coupler in its former condition, he then attempted to make another coupling. To do this he again stood between the cars on the open ties, with his back to the outside of the bridge; and, as before, put one knee under the drawbar to raise it from the carrier iron, and with one hand...