Minneapolis St Ry Co v. Herrick

• Decision Date: 23 April 1888
• Citation: 127 U.S. 210,8 S.Ct. 1176,32 L.Ed. 109
• Parties: MINNEAPOLIS & ST. L. RY. CO. v. HERRICK. 1
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

8 S.Ct. 1176

127 U.S. 210

32 L.Ed. 109

MINNEAPOLIS & ST. L. RY. CO.v.HERRICK.¹

April 23, 1888.

C. K. Davis, for plaintiff in error.

Edward J. Hill, for defendant in error.

FIELD, J.

The defendant is a corporation created under the laws of Minnesota, and in December, 1881, it operated a railroad ex- tending from Minneapolis, in that state, to Fort Dodge, in Iowa.A law of Iowa, then in force, provides that 'every corporation operating employes of such corporation, in damages sustained by any person, including employes of such corporation, in consequence of the neglect of agents, or by any mismanagement of the engineers or other employes of the corporation, and in consequence of the willful wrongs, whether of commission or omission, of such agents, engineers, or other employes, when such wrongs are in any manner connected with the use and operation of any railway on or about which they shall be employed, and no contract which restricts such liability shall be legal or binding.'On the 6th of December, 1881, the plaintiff was employed by the defendant as a brakeman on one of its cars, and on that day, in Webster, in Iowa, it became his duty to make a coupling of an engine and a freight car.The engine was in charge of one of its employes, an engineer, and, while the plaintiff was making the coupling, the engine was, by the negligence and mismanagement of the engineer, driven against the car, causing severe and permanent injuries to the plaintiff.To recover damages for the injuries thus sustained he brought this action in a district court of Minnesota, relying upon the law of Iowa quoted above.The defendant in...