New England Railroad Company v. Robert Conroy

• Decision Date: 04 December 1899
• Docket Number: No. 42,42
• Citation: 175 U.S. 323,20 S.Ct. 85,44 L.Ed. 181
• Parties: NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err. , v. ROBERT T. CONROY, Admr
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

175 U.S. 323

20 S.Ct. 85

44 L.Ed. 181

NEW ENGLAND RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err.,

v ROBERT T. CONROY, Admr.

No. 42.

Argued April 3, 4, 1899.

Decided December 4, 1899.

This was an action against a railroad corporation by a brakeman in its employ to recover damages for a personal injury caused by the negligence of the conductor of one of its trains.

The facts in this case, as stated in the certificate of the circuit court of appeals, were as follows:

'On the 15th day of December, 1894, a freight train of the defendant company, drawn by a steam locomotive, and carrying an engineer, a fireman, three brakemen, and a conductor, set out from Worcester, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, for the city of Providence, in the state of Rhode Island. The train, which consisted of the locomotive and tender, thirteen or fourteen freight cars, and a caboose car, was heavily loaded with freight. The train left Worcester at about 7.15 P. M. and proceeded on its way without accident, until when, at a point on the railroad in the state of Rhode Island, away from telegraphic communication and not at a station, and distant from Providence about 16 miles, the engineer discovered by the motion and behavior of the locomotive that the train had broken apart. He immediately gave signals with the whistle to indicate to the trainmen upon the rear portion of the train that it was broken off, and continued to repeat those signals, which consisted of three rapid blasts of the whistle with very brief intervals between the different threes, while the locomotive and the one car which remained connected ran 3/4 of a mile. The locomotive with the connected car ran about 2 3/4 miles when the engineer, not being able to see anything of the separated part of the train, and supposing that his signals had been heard and its advance stopped, slowed up the engine preparatory to sending the fireman back with the lantern and to take steps for restoring the connection of the parts of the train. Before speed had been so reduced that the fireman could alight from the train, the rear portion was discovered close at hand and approaching at great speed. The fireman gave notice of this fact and a signal for the locomotive to go ahead, but before it could gain speed to get away a collision between the two parts of the train took place, and one Gregory, a brakeman, who was on the top of the car still attached to the engine, was thrown from the car by the shock and instantly killed.

'The three brakemen on the train were a head, a middle, and a rear brakeman. Gregory was the head brakeman, and at once, on discovery of the separation of the train, went to the top of the only car left with the engine. The conductor and the middle and rear brakemen had been riding in the caboose car at the rear end of the train, and did not hear the warning signals which the engineer gave with the whistle, nor know that the train had broken until the collision, but remained all the time in the caboose. The night was cold and clear. The accident was near midnight.

'The negligence complained of consisted in the alleged failure of the conductor in control of the men and in charge of the train, in view of the character of the night, the character of the road in respect to grades and curves, the speed at which the train was run, and the liability of the train to part asunder at that place, to properly watch and supervise its movements, and the fact that he, in the full knowledge that the rear and middle brakemen were in the caboose, away from their brakes, permitted them to remain there, and failed to order them to the brakes.'

The jury were instructed: 'The conductor of the train, under the rules laid down by the rules of the Supreme Court of the United States, is in a peculiar and special condition. The conductor of the train, as I understand the theory of the rule of the Supreme Court of the United States, is, in a certain sense, between stations, at least, is in a certain sense like the master of a ship on a voyage; he is beyond the reach of orders when running his train between stations; and there- fore as a matter of necessity, as a matter of public policy, I suppose, he must be held to stand in the place of the corporation itself. . . . If you find in this particular case, from the evidence in the case and such common knowledge as jurymen are entitled to use, that by the rules of this road . . . the conductor gave directions to the people who worked on the train, gave directions to start the train, gave directions to stop the train, gave directions as to the location and position of the different men on the train, and also had the general management of the train and control over it when running between stations, then I say to you, gentlemen, that he for this case represents the company, and if injuries resulted from his negligent acts the company is responsible.'

The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, and assessed damages in the sum of $4,250.

The defendant brought the case by writ of error to the United States circuit court of appeals for the first circuit.

And, upon consideration of the case, after full argument, the judges of that court desired the instructions of the Supreme Court upon the following questions of law arising on the facts as before stated:

1st. Whether the negligence of the conductor was the negligence of a fellow servant of the deceased brakeman?

2d. Whether the negligence of the conductor was the negligence of its vice or substituted principal or representative, for which the corporation is responsible?

Mr. Frank A. Farnham for plaintiff in error.

Mr. James E. Cotter for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice Shiras delivered the opinion of the court:

It may be doubted whether the questions of law presented to us are really raised by the facts as certified. No facts are stated from which the jury might have found that, at the time and place of the accident, there was any special reason why the brakemen should have been ordered by the conductor to take their places at the brakes, and therefore it is by no means evident that there was any dereliction of duty on the part of the conductor.

Nor is it clear that the negligence of the conductor, if negligence it was, in permitting the brakemen to ride in the caboose, was the proximate cause of Gregory's injuries. When the train parted the engineer had charge and control of the locomotive and attached cars, and it would seem to have been his duty, as it was within his power, to have prevented the subsequent collision of the detached parts. And, in that event, the case would be ruled by Baltimore & O. R. Co. v. Baugh, 149 U. S. 368, 37 L. ed. 772, 13 Sup. Ct. Rep. 914, where it was held that the engineer and fireman of a locomotive engine, running alone on a railroad and without any rain attached, are fellow servants, so as to preclude the latter from recovering from the company for injuries caused by the negligence of the former.

However, waiving these suggestions, and proceeding on the assumptions of the courts below that it was the duty of the conductor, at the time and place of the accident, to have the brakemen on the top of the cars where they could apply the hand brakes, and that his failure to do so was the proximate cause of the injury to the plaintiff's intestate resulting from the subsequent collision of the detached portions of the train, we meet the question, Would, in such a state of facts, the company be liable to the injured brakeman for the negligence of the conductor?

There is a general rule of law, established by a great preponderance of judicial authority in the English and in the state and Federal courts, that one who enters the service of another takes upon himself the ordinary risks of the negligent acts of his fellow servants in the course of the employment. But there have been conflicting views expressed in the application of this rule in cases where the employer is a railroad company, or other large organization, employing a number of servants engaged in distinct and separate departments of service; and our present inquiry is whether the relation between the conductor and the brakeman of a freight train is that of fellow servants, within the rule, or whether the conductor is to be deemed a vice principal, representing the railroad company in such a sense that his negligence is that of the company, the common employer.

Unless we are constrained to accept and follow the decision of this court in the case of Chicago, M. & St. P. R. Co. v. ross, 112 U. S. 377, 28 L. ed. 787, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 184, we have no hesitation in holding, both upon principle and authority, that the employer is not liable for an injury to one employee occasioned by the negligence of another engaged in the same general undertaking; that it is not necessary that the servants should be engaged in the same operation or particular work; that it is enough, to bring the case within the general rule of exemption, if they are in the employment of the same master, engaged in the same common enterprise, both employed to perform duties tending to accomplish the same general purposes, or, in other words, if the services of each in his particular sphere or department are directed to the accomplishment of the same general end; and that, accordingly, in the present case, upon the facts stated, the conductor and the injured brakenan are to be considered fellow servants within the rule.

We shall refer to a few of the authorities which establish these principles. Farwell v. Boston & W. R. Corp. 1 Met. 49, 38 Am. Dec. 339, is the leading case in Massachusetts. The question was thus stated by Chief Justice Shaw:

'This is an action of new impression in our courts, and involes a principle of great importance. It presents a case where two persons are in the service and employment of one company, whose business it is to construct and maintain a railroad, and to employ their trains of cars to carry persons and...