Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Co v. Yeldell

Citation51 A. L. R. 1376,274 U.S. 112,47 S.Ct. 509,71 L.Ed. 952
Decision Date11 April 1927
Docket NumberNo. 171,171
PartiesLOUIS PIZITZ DRY GOODS CO., Inc., v. YELDELL
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Mr. Joseph P. Mudd, of Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff in error.

Mr. Benjamin F. Ray, of Birmingham, Ala., for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice STONE delivered the opinion of the Court.

Defendant in error, an administrator, brought suit in the circuit court of Jefferson County, Alabama, to recover for the wrongful death of his intestate, caused by the negligent operation of an elevator by an employee of plaintiff in error in its department store. The action was founded upon the so-called Homicide Act of Alabama (section 5696, Code of 1923) printed in the margin. 1 This statute authorizes the recovery of damages from either a principal or an agent, in such amount as the jury may assess, for wrongful act or negligence causing death. The jury returned a verdict of $9,500 and judgment for that amount was affirmed on appeal. 213 Ala. 222, 104 So. 526. The case comes here on writ of error. Judicial Code, § 237, as amended (Comp. St. § 1214).

Plaintiff in error does not deny its liability for the negligent act of its employee. But it calls attention to the fact that the Homicide Act imposing liability upon the employer for death resulting from the wrongful acts, omissions or negligence of its employees, as interpreted by the state courts, permits the jury, as in this case, to assess punitive damages against the employer for the mere negligence of its employee. Richmond & Danville R. R. v. Freeman, 97 Ala. 289, 11 So. 800. A statute which so authorizes the mulcting of the employer, it is argued, is 'unreasonably oppressive, arbitrary, unjust, violative of the fundamental conceptions of fair play, and, therefore, repugnant to the Fourteenth Amendment.'

The legislation now challenged has been on the statute books of Alabama in essentially its present form since 1872. The liability imposed is for tortious acts resulting in death, but the damages, which may be punitive even though the act complained of involved no element of recklessness, malice, or willfulness, may be assessed against the employer who, as here, is personally without fault. The Supreme Court of Alabama has repeatedly ruled that the statute is aimed at the prevention of death by wrongful act or omission. Savannah & Memphis R. R. v. Shearer, 58 Ala. 672, 680; South and North Alabama R. R. v. Sullivan, 59 Ala. 272, 279. 'The statute is remedial, and not penal, and was designed as well to give a right of action where none existed before, as to 'prevent homicides,' and the action given is purely civil in its nature for the redress of private, and not public wrongs.' Southern Ry. v. Bush, 122 Ala. 470, 489, 26 So. 168, 174. In defining the scope of the act, the state court has pointed out that the extent of the culpability and the amount of the verdict are for the jury and that its finding is not to be disturbed unless the verdict is 'induced or reached on account of prejudice, passion, or other improper motive or cause.' Mobile Electric Co. v. Fritz, 200 Ala. 692, 693, 77 So. 235, 236. The case was argued here on the assumption that its scope was thus limited and we so interpret the statute. Its constitutionality has been upheld by both state and federal courts. Richmond & Danville R. R. v. Freeman, supra; U. S. Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Co. v. Sullivan (C. C. A.) 3 F.(2d) 794.

The objections now urged to a new form of vicarious liability were considered and rejected in the Workmen's Compensation cases (New York Central R. R. v. White, 243 U. S. 188, 37 S. Ct. 247, 61 L. Ed. 667, L. R. A. 1917D, 1, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 629; Mountain Timber Co. v. Washington, 243 U. S. 219, 37 S. Ct. 260, 61 L. Ed. 685, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 642), as they must be rejected here. The extension of the doctrine of liability without fault to new situations to attain a permissible legislative object is not so novel in the law or so shocking 'to reason or to conscience' as to afford in itself any ground for the contention that it denies due process of law. The principle of respondeat superior itself and the rule of liability of corporations for the willful torts of their employees extended in some jurisdictions, without legislative sanction, to liability for punitive damages (Boyer & Co. v. Coxen, 92 Md. 366, 48 A. 161; Hanson v. E. & N. A. R. R., 62 Me. 84, 16 Am. Rep. 404; Jeffersonville R. R. v. Rogers, 38 Ind. 116, 10 Am. Rep. 103; Atlantic & Great West. Ry. v. Dunn, 19 Ohio St. 162, 2 Am. Rep. 382. See Jefferson County Savings Bank v. Eborn, 84 Ala. 529, 534, 4 So. 386. Contra, Lake Shore Ry. v. Prentice, 147 U. S. 101, 13 S. Ct. 261, 37 L. Ed. 97), are recognitions by the common law that the imposition of liability without personal fault, having its foundation in a recognized public policy, is not repugnant to accepted notions of due process of law. No constitutional question was presented in Lake Shore Ry. v. Prentice, supra, and this court thus was free to choose as between these conflicting common law rules the one which it thought most appropriate.

Lord Campbell's Act and its successors, establishing liability for wrongful death where none existed before the various Workmen's Compensation Acts imposing new types of liability, are...

To continue reading

Request your trial
68 cases
  • Pasco Terminals, Inc. v. United States, C.D. 4823
    • United States
    • United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
    • September 26, 1979
  • In re Opinion of the Justices
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • May 20, 1941
    ...Timber Co. v. Washington, 243 U.S. 219, 236, 37 S.Ct. 260, 61 L.Ed. 685, Ann.Cas.1917D, 642;Louis Pizitz Dry Gods Co., Inc. v. Yeldell, 274 U.S. 112, 115, 47 S.Ct. 509, 71 L.Ed. 952, 51 A.L.R. 1376;Crowell v. Benson, 285 U.S. 22, 40, 41, 52 S.Ct. 285, 76 L.Ed. 598. We express no opinion as ......
  • Crowell v. Benson Crowell v. Same
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • February 23, 1932
    ...fault to instances where the relation of employment, as so defined, exists.48 Compare Louis Pisitz Dry Goods Co. v. Yeldell, 274 U. S. 112, 116, 47 S. Ct. 509, 71 L. Ed. 952, 51 A. L. R. 1376. Whether an individual is an employer or an independent contractor depends upon criteria often subt......
  • Rodebush By and Through Rodebush v. Oklahoma Nursing Homes, Ltd., 73340
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Oklahoma
    • December 14, 1993
    ...32 L.Ed. 585 (1889); Standard Oil Co. v. Missouri, 224 U.S. 270, 32 S.Ct. 406, 56 L.Ed. 760 (1912); Louis Pizitz Dry Goods Co. v. Yeldell, 274 U.S. 112, 47 S.Ct. 509, 71 L.Ed. 952 (1927); Memphis Community School Dist. v. Stachura, 477 U.S. 299, 106 S.Ct. 2537, 91 L.Ed.2d 249 (1986).12 See ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT