Patterson v. Sears-Roebuck & Co.
| Decision Date | 16 May 1952 |
| Docket Number | No. 13787.,13787. |
| Parties | PATTERSON v. SEARS-ROEBUCK & CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
H. M. Aldridge, Mobile, Ala., E. T. Brown, Jr., Birmingham, Ala., for appellant.
Richard H. Inge, Mobile, Ala., for appellee.
Before HUTCHESON, Chief Judge, and BORAH and RUSSELL, Circuit Judges.
The suit, brought in Alabama by the administrator of the estate of a deceased employee, sought damages, actual and punitive, for her death.
The claim was: that plaintiff's intestate was in defendant's employ as a clerk or office worker; that she was required to work in a building which was so locked and secured as to prevent egress therefrom; and that, as a result, she was, when a fire arose, entrapped therein and burned to death.
Further alleging: that decedent left surviving her only a husband, a father, and a brother, no one of whom was in any degree dependent on said decedent, either in fact or within the scope of the definition of dependents as set forth in the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Act,1 and that, therefore, there was no one to sue under that act, plaintiff sought a recovery of damages, independently of and disregarding that act, under the Alabama Wrongful death Statute.2
The defendant moving to dismiss on the ground: (1) that petitioner failed to state a claim against the defendant; and (2) directing a more definite statement; the cause was dismissed, twenty days being allowed to file an amended complaint.
Plaintiff amended the complaint by adding six paragraphs. These alleged in effect: that the decedent had no dependents and no action could be maintained under the Workmen's Compensation Law; that, therefore, it did not preclude resort by her legal representative to other Alabama laws for the recovery of the damages caused by her death; and that decedent's death was caused not by an accident arising out of, or originating in, her employment as defined in the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Act, but by the negligent and wrongful acts of defendant in locking and securing the building so that there was no means of her escape therefrom.
The defendant again moving to dismiss for want of a statement of a recoverable claim, the District Judge again dismissed the complaint, and plaintiff has appealed.
Here, conceding that, generally speaking, the act is the exclusive measure of an employer's liability to an injured employee for accidental injuries arising out of, or originating in, his employment, appellant puts forward three main propositions in support of his view that the complaint in this case stated a recoverable claim.
The first is that the relief provided against an employer by the Workmen's Compensation Act, while generally exclusive of any other remedy, is not so in this case, because, by limiting its recoveries to dependents, it denies a remedy in cases like this one where the deceased left no dependents.
The second is that the mere lack of dependents of a deceased employee cannot bar the personal representative from bringing an action against the employer, either under the Wrongful Death Statute or the Employers Liability Act.
The third is that the complaint states a good cause of action arising and accruing outside the scope of the Workmen's Compensation Act in that it clearly alleges a negligent death caused by an accident, not arising out of, and in the course of, decedent's employment.
Proceeding from these three propositions and pointing out that appellee makes no criticism: of the original complaint, except that, on its face, it shows the existence of an employer-employee relationship, and that the Workmen's Compensation Act furnishes the exclusive remedy against an employer for injuries resulting in death to his employees and confines it to dependents; or of it, as amended, except that it shows, on its face, that the injury did arise out of and in the course of the employment; appellant insists that neither of these grounds is well taken, neither is sufficient to sustain the judgment.
As he elaborates his position, it is that every wrong must have its remedy and that it is a contradiction in terms to say that the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Act furnishes the exclusive remedy against the employer for injuries received in the course of her employment, and, at the same time, to say that since she had no dependents, the act furnishes the deceased employee, or her estate, no remedy.
Appellee, citing the Alabama cases holding with complete unanimity: that the Alabama Workmen's Compensation law provides the exclusive remedy against employers for injuries received by their employees, coming within the scope of the Act, that is, accidental, arising out of,...
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Giordano v. McBar Indus., Inc.
...Thol v. United States, 218 F.2d 12 (9th Cir.1954); Underwood v. United States, 207 F.2d 862 (10th Cir.1953); Patterson v. Sears–Roebuck & Co., 196 F.2d 947 (5th Cir.1952); Smith v. Gortman, 261 Ga. 206, 403 S.E.2d 41 (1991); Estate of Coates v. Pacific Eng'g, 71 Haw. 358, 791 P.2d 1257 (199......
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Horney v. Meredith Swimming Pool Co., 691
...to an award of compensation on account of his death because they were not wholly or partially dependent upon him. In Patterson v. Sears-Roebuck & Co., 196 F.2d 947, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a judgment dismissing the complaint 'for want of a statement of a recovera......
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Mullarkey v. Florida Feed Mills, Inc.
...the deceased employee suffer no loss with his demise. Note Amsler v. Sox Meat Packers, 75 So.2d 207 (Fla.1954); Patterson v. Sears-Roebuck & Co., 196 F.2d 947 (5th Cir. 1952). Fifth, the Workmen's Compensation Act does not abolish the Survival Statute and the Wrongful Death Acts in regard t......
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Lowe v. Fulford
...Act, where death benefits are denied because the deceased employee leaves no surviving dependents. See Patterson v. Sears-Roebuck & Co., 196 F.2d 947 (5th Cir.1952). But, first, we need to understand the majority's "punitive damages" rationale. The majority's point is to the effect that, be......