Chicago, Burlington Quincy Railroad Company v. William Hall

• Decision Date: 09 June 1913
• Docket Number: No. 249,249
• Citation: Chicago, Burlington Quincy Railroad Company v. William Hall, 229 U.S. 511, 33 S.Ct. 885, 57 L.Ed. 1306 (1913)
• Parties: CHICAGO, BURLINGTON, & QUINCY RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. WILLIAM H. HALL
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

229 U.S. 511

33 S.Ct. 885

57 L.Ed. 1306

CHICAGO, BURLINGTON, & QUINCY RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v WILLIAM H. HALL.

No. 249.

Submitted April 21, 1913.

Decided June 9, 1913.

Hall, a resident of Douglas county, Nebraska, was employed by the railroad as switchman in its yards in Omaha. His wages were exempt from garnishment by the laws of Nebraska. In July, 1907, he was insolvent, and in that month, while temporarily in the state of Iowa, two proceedings were instituted against him, in which he was personally served, and the railroad, which owed him $122 as wages, was garnisheed. In one of these cases Rawles sued on an open account for $54.20, the railroad being required to answer on August 10th. In the other, Torrey, holding a judgment for $22.40, rendered in 1894, served a summons of garnishment on the railroad, requiring it to answer on August 27, 1907.

While these proceedings were pending in the Iowa courts, Hall returned to Nebraska, and, on August 7, 1907, he was, on his own application, adjudged a bankrupt, his wages being claimed as exempt, and the two Iowa plaintiffs included in his list of creditors. Notice of the bankruptcy proceeding was given to them and to the railroad.

Thereafter, on August 10th, the railroad answered in the Rawles suit, admitting that it owed Hall $122, and a judgment was accordingly entered against the railroad as garnishee for $61.60. On August 27, it answered in the Torrey suit, and the court entered judgment against it as garnishee for $56.91. Hall, in the bankruptcy proceedings, had asked that, as allowed by the laws of Nebraska, his wages be set apart as exempt, and filed a petition praying that the railroad should be summarily ordered to pay him the amount due for work done in June and July, 1907. The application was resisted by the railroad and was denied by the court, which held, on the authority of Ingram v. Wilson, 60 C. C. A. 618, 125 Fed. 913, that the bankruptcy court could determine that the property was exempt, but had no jurisdiction to compel its payment.

In view of that ruling, Hall made a further application to have the $122 set off to him as exempt. An order to that effect was passed by the referee. Hall was discharged as a bankrupt in April, 1908, and then sued the railroad and recovered a judgment, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court (88 Nebraska, 20), and the case was brought here.

Messrs. T. Byron Clark and Arthur R. Wells for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. Ralph W. Breckenridge and J. O. Detweiler for defendant in error.

Statement by Mr. Justice Lamar:

Mr. Justice Lamar, after making the foregoing statement of facts, delivered the opinion of the court:

Hall, a married man, head of a family, and insolvent, worked as a switchman for the railroad company in Nebraska, his wages being exempt from garnishment by the laws of that state. While temporarily absent in Iowa, two suits were there brought against him, summons of garnishment being served upon the railroad's agent in Iowa, where it had been held that the Nebraska exemption statute had no extraterritorial effect.

While these two suits were pending in Iowa, Hall returned to Nebraska, was adjudged a bankrupt, and claimed his wages as exempt. No defense was made to the Iowa suits, and in both cases judgment was entered against the railroad as garnishee. For this reason it refused to pay Hall when he demanded the money, which had been set apart to him as exempt by the referee. He then sued the company and recovered a judgment, which was affirmed by the supreme court of Nebraska. The railroad sued out a writ of error to test its liability in this class of cases, which it insists are constantly arising, because of the employment of many persons on its lines, extending into different states, with varying garnishment laws. It contends that the laws of Iowa do not recognize the Nebraska exemption of wages from garnishment; that Hall was personally served in the Iowa suits, and that the judgments therein entered against the railroad as garnishee are unreversed and binding; that to compel it to pay Hall and these Iowa plaintiffs also is to impose upon it a double liability, and to deny to the judgments of the Iowa courts the full faith and credit to which they are entitled under the Federal Constitution.

But if they were nullified by 67f of the bankruptcy act, they are entitled to no faith and no credit. That they were so nullified is Hall's contention; for he insists that if there was a lien against his wages, it was obtained by...