O'DONNELL v. Geneva Metal Wheel Co., 10994.
| Citation | 190 F.2d 59 |
| Decision Date | 17 November 1950 |
| Docket Number | No. 10994.,10994. |
| Parties | O'DONNELL et al. v. GENEVA METAL WHEEL CO. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
Davis & Young, Meyer A. Cook, Cleveland, Ohio, for appellants.
Bulkley, Butler & Pillen, Kenneth D. Carter, J. A. Butler, Cleveland, Ohio, for appellee.
Before ALLEN, MARTIN, and McALLISTER, Circuit Judges.
The above cause came on to be heard on appellee's petition for rehearing in which it is contended that the reference by the court in its opinion to Pennsylvania Railroad v. Goldie, 6 Cir., 182 F. 2d stated the law as based upon decisions of the Supreme Court involving the Federal Employers' Liability Act 45 U.S.C.A. § 51 et. seq. and that that case, delineating the functions of the jury to pass upon issues of fact and the function of the court to determine whether there is substantial evidence to submit such issues to the jury, is inapplicable to the present controversy. It is emphasized that this case involves a common law cause of action under Ohio law, and that a federal court, under the authority of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188, is accordingly bound to follow the law of negligence of the State of Ohio, as interpreted by the highest court of that state. We agree with this contention. The rule with respect to the function of judge and jury, as outlined in Pennsylvania Railroad v. Goldie, supra, is here inapplicable, and the citation of that case as authority in disposing of the issues presented by appellee was improvident.
In this case, the law of Ohio controls. In the latest adjudication of the Ohio Supreme Court on the subject that has come to our attention, it is held that it is not sufficient for a plaintiff to prove that the negligence of a defendant might have caused an accident; if the cause of the injury to a plaintiff may be as reasonably attributed to an act for which the defendant is not liable as to one for which he is liable, the plaintiff has not sustained the burden of showing that his injury is a proximate result of the negligence of the defendant. Gedra v. Dallmar Co., 153 Ohio St. 258, 91 N.E.2d 256. This rule, however, in no way alters the conclusions heretofore expressed in the opinion of this court on the appeal in this case.
From the transcript of the record, it is our view that there was sufficient evidence on the trial before the district court to submit to the jury the question whether the wheel that caused...
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Lones v. Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Company
...or the state standard, on which there is a considerable conflict of opinion in the Circuits.2 Our early cases, O'Donnell v. Geneva Metal Wheel Co., 190 F.2d 59 (6th Cir. 1950); Lovas v. General Motors Corp., 212 F.2d 805 (6th Cir. 1954), holding that the state law applied, were decided at a......
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Sitta v. American Steel & Wire Div. of US Steel Corp.
...239 N.W. 342. Since jurisdiction is based upon diversity of citizenship, we are governed by the law of Michigan. O'Donnell v. Geneva Metal Wheel Co., 6 Cir., 190 F.2d 59. There is some discussion in the briefs about the application of the res ipsa loquitur rule in determining whether the ev......
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Gilreath v. Southern Railway Company
...to Tennessee is involved, we see no reason to re-examine our previous holdings that the state law should govern. O'Donnell v. Geneva Metal Co., 190 F.2d 59, 60 (C.A.6, 1950); Lovas v. General Motors Corp., 212 F.2d 805, 807 (C.A. 6, 1954); Trivette v. New York Life Insurance Co., 283 F.2d 4......
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Lovas v. General Motors Corp.
...U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188; Stoner v. New York Life Ins. Co., 311 U.S. 464, 61 S.Ct. 336, 85 L.Ed. 284; O'Donnell v. Geneva Metal Wheel Co., 6 Cir., 190 F.2d 59; Gutierrez v. Public Service Interstate Transp. Co., 2 Cir., 168 F.2d Certain principles are well settled under both sta......