Chicago Dock Canal Company v. Katherine Fraley

• Decision Date: 26 May 1913
• Docket Number: No. 286,286
• Citation: 57 L.Ed. 1022,228 U.S. 680,33 S.Ct. 715
• Parties: CHICAGO DOCK & CANAL COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. KATHERINE A. FRALEY, as Administratrix of the Estate of Gertrude V. Claffy, Deceased, Deft. in Err
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

228 U.S. 680

33 S.Ct. 715

57 L.Ed. 1022

CHICAGO DOCK & CANAL COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v KATHERINE A. FRALEY, as Administratrix of the Estate of Gertrude V. Claffy, Deceased, Deft. in Err.

No. 286.

Argued and submitted May 2, 1913.

Decided May 26, 1913.

Mr. Morse Ives for plaintiff in error.

[Argument of Counsel from page 681 intentionally omitted] Mr. James C. McShane for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 682-684 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice McKenna delivered the opinion of the court:

This writ of error is directed to review a judgment of the supreme court of the state of Illinois, affirming a judgment in an action brought by Gertrude V. Claffy, against plaintiff in error, for the violation of § 7 of a statute of the state, entitled, 'An Act Providing for the Protection and Safety of Persons in and about the Construction, Repairing, Alteration, or Removal of Buildings, Bridges, Viaducts, and Other Structures, and to Provide for the Enforcement Thereof.' Laws of 1907, p. 312.

Section 7 reads as follows:

If elevating machines or hoisting apparatus are used within a building in the course of construction, for the purpose of lifting materials to be used in such construction, the contractors or owners shall cause the shafts or openings in each floor to be inclosed or fenced in on all sides by a substantial barrier or railing at least 8 feet in height. . . .'

Section 9 gives a right of action for a wilful violation of or failure to comply with any provisions of the act to the person injured, or, in case of loss of life, to his widow, lineal heirs, adopted children, or persons dependent upon him, for damages so sustained.

Gertrude V. Claffy, widow of Charles F. Claffy, brought suit against plaintiff in error and one Henry Erickson for causing the death of her husband through violation of the act. The defendants filed separate demurrers to the declaration, which were overruled. An additional count was filed by the plaintiff in the action which set out with detail the cause of action. The defendants answered, and, upon a trial to a jury, a verdict of $10,000 was returned against defendants. A new trial was granted as to Erickson, and $2,500 of the amount found remitted, and a judgment entered against plaintiff in error here for the sum of $7,500. It was sustained by the supreme court of the state. Subsequently, Gertrude V. Claffy having died, her administratrix, defendant in error here, was substituted as appellee in the supreme court.

The facts are these: Plaintiff in error was the owner of a large building in the course of construction in Chicago, and Erickson was the contractor for its erection. The deceased was employed by the plumbing contractor, and, in the course of his employment, was working in the building.

In the building there was an elevator or hoist, operated through a shaft or opening, for the purpose of lifting materials to be used in the construction of the building. It was not inclosed or fenced in as required by § 7 of the act. Deceased was at work upon a pipe immediately alongside of the shaft, and accidentally fell into and down through it a distance of six stories.

The contention of plaintiff in error is here, as it was in the state courts, that §§ 7 and 9 of the act violate the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in that they deny to him the equal protection of the laws. He specifies as grounds of his contention that the classification of the statute is based upon minute rather than general distinctions, that it does not bring within its purview all of those who are in substantially the same situation and circumstances, in that it distinguishes between openings required for hoisting or lowering materials to be used in construction and stairways and elevator shafts. Section 7, counsel says, 'requires that but one of these classes be barricaded; namely, those openings used for hoisting materials to be used in construction.' And, asserting the purpose of the act to be to protect those lawfully on the premises against danger from falling materials, he adds, 'that in a case like this, use cannot be made the test. Danger is the thing;' and hence concludes that the classification of the statute, not having relation to its purpose, is arbitrary.

That danger is the test may be conceded, but there may be degrees of it, and a difference in degree may justify classification. Mutual Loan Co. v. Martell, 222 U. S. 225, 236, 56 L. ed. 175, 180, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 74, Ann. Cas. 1913 B, 529. Who is to judge of the danger, whether absolutely considered or comparatively considered? Is it a matter of belief or proof? If of belief, we should be very reluctant to oppose ours to that of the legislature of the state, informed, no doubt, by experience, of conditions, and fortified by presumptions of legality, and confirmed, besides, by the opinion of the supreme court of the state. Laurel Hill Cometery v. San Francisco, 216 U. S. 358, 365, 54 L. ed. 515, 518, 30 Sup. Ct. Rep. 301; Adams v. Milwaukee, 228 U. S. 572, 57...