Douglas v. New York Co, 312

• Court: U.S. Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: HOLMES
• Citation: Douglas v. New York Co, 279 U.S. 377, 49 S.Ct. 355, 73 L.Ed. 747 (1929)
• Decision Date: 13 May 1929
• Docket Number: No. 312,312
• Parties: DOUGLAS v. NEW YORK, N. H. & H. R. CO. Re

279 U.S. 377

49 S.Ct. 355

73 L.Ed. 747

DOUGLAS

v NEW YORK, N. H. & H. R. CO.

No. 312.

Reargued April 15 and 16, 1929.

Decided May 13, 1929.

Mr. Thomas J. O'Neill, of New York City, for petitioner.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 378-379 intentionally omitted] Mr. E. R. Brumley, of New York City, for respondent.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 380-385 intentionally omitted] Mr. Hamilton Ward, Atty. Gen., of New York, amicus curiae, by special leave of court.

Mr. Justice HOLMES delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a suit under the Employers' Liability Act for personal injuries. The injuries were inflicted in Connecticut, the plaintiff, the petitioner, is a citizen and resident of Connecticut, and the defendant, the respondent, is a Connecticut corporation, although doing business in New York where the suit was brought. Upon motion the trial court dismissed the action, assuming that the statutes of the State gave it a discretion in the matter, and its action was affirmed by the Appellate Division, 223 App. Div. 782, 227 N. Y. S. 797, and by the Court of Appeals, 248 N. Y. 580, 162 N. E. 532. Thus it is established that the statute purports to give to the Court the power that it exercised. But the plaintiff says that the Act as construed is void under article 4, § 2, of the Constitution of the United States: 'The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.' A subordinate argument is added that the jurisdiction is imposed by the Employers' Liability Act when as here the Court has authority to entertain the suit. Code title 45, § 56 (45 USCA § 56); Acts of April 22, 1908, c. 149, § 6, 35 Stat. 66, April 5, 1910, c. 143, § 1, 36 Stat. 291. That section gives concurrent jurisdiction to the Courts of the United States and the States and forbids removal if the suit is brought in a State Court. The language of the New York statute, Laws of 1913, c. 60, amending section 1780 or the Code of Civil Procedure is: 'An action against a foreign corporation may be maintained by another foreign corporation, or by a non-resident, in one of the following cases only: * * * 4. Where a foreign corporation is doing business within this State.' Laws of 1920, c. 916, § 47. The argument for the petitioner is that, construed as it is, it makes a discrimination between citizens of New York and citizens of other States, because it authorizes the Court in its discretion to dismiss an action by a citizen of another State but not an action brought by a citizen of New York, which last it cannot do. Gregonis v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., 235 N. Y. 152, 139 N. E. 223, 32 A. L. R. 1. It is said that a citizen of New York is a resident of New York wherever he may be living in fact, and thus that all citizens of New York can bring these actions, whereas citizens of other States cannot unless they are actually living in the State. But however often the word resident may have been used as equivalent to citizen, and for whatever purposes residence may have been assumed to follow citizenship there is nothing to prohibit the legislature from using 'resident' in the strict primary sense of one actually living in the place for the time, irrespective even of domicile. If that word in this statute must be so construed in order to uphold the act or even to avoid serious doubts of its constitutionality we presume that the Courts of New York would construe it in that way; as indeed the Supreme Court has done already in so many words. Adams v. Penn Bank of Pittsburgh, 35 Hun (N. Y.) 393; Duquesne Club v. Penn Bank of Pittsburgh, 35 Hun (N. Y.) 390; Robinson v. Oceanic Steam Navigation Co., 112 N. Y. 315, 324, 19 N. E. 625, 2 L. R. A. 636; Klotz v. Angle, 220 N. Y. 347, 358, 116 N. E. 24. See Canadian Northern seems to be assumed in Gregonis v. Philadelphia Ct. 402, 64 L. Ed. 713. The same meaning seems to be assumed in Gregoins v. Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co., 235 N. Y. 152, 139 N. E. 223, 32 A. L. R. 1. We cannot presume, against this evidence and in order to overthrow a statute, that the Courts of New York would adopt a different rule from that which is well settled here. Panama R. R. Co. v. Johnson, 264 U. S. 375, 390, 44 S. Ct. 391, 68 L. Ed. 748.

Construed as it has been and we believe will be construed the statute applies to citizens of New York as well as to...