Shaver v. SOO LINE RAILROAD COMPANY
| Decision Date | 17 May 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 67-C-423.,67-C-423. |
| Citation | 284 F. Supp. 701 |
| Parties | Genevieve L. SHAVER, Plaintiff, v. SOO LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, a Minnesota corporation, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin |
Alan Shafrin, Milwaukee, Wis., for plaintiff.
Whyte, Hirschboeck, Minahan, Harding & Harland, Milwaukee, Wis., for defendant.
DECISION AND ORDER
The complaint in this action alleges that Ralph R. Shaver, a resident of Wisconsin, died on August 26, 1966, as a result of a collision on that day with a Soo Line train. The collision occurred in Michigan. The plaintiff is the decedent's widow. She resides in Wisconsin, and she is suing in her own name and in her own individual right.
The defendant has moved to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the plaintiff's cause of action is controlled by the Michigan wrongful death statute, Michigan Statutes Annotated, §§ 27A. 2921, 27A. 2922, C.L.Mich.1948, §§ 600.2921, 600.2922 P.A.1961, No. 236. The defendant contends that under the Michigan statute, only the personal representative of the deceased may sue for a wrongful death. Since the plaintiff is not the decedent's personal representative, the defendant concludes that the action should be dismissed for failure to join an indispensable party. At the pretrial conference held in this case, it was acknowledged that no personal representative had been appointed for the decedent.
The plaintiff argues that Wisconsin law should control in this case with respect to the widow's capacity to sue in her own name. Wisconsin law does not restrict suit to the personal representative. Wis.Stats. § 895.04 (1965). However, the Wisconsin wrongful death statute, Wis.Stats. § 895.03 (1965), also provides as follows:
"Whenever the death of a person shall be caused by a wrongful act, neglect or default and the act, neglect or default is such as would, if death had not ensued, have entitled the party injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, then and in every such case the person who would have been liable, if death had not ensued, shall be liable * * * provided, that such action be brought for a death caused in this state." (Emphasis supplied.)
By express legislative direction, Wisconsin does not apply its wrongful death statute, in whole or in part, to a death caused outside of the state of Wisconsin. Thus, there really is no conflict of laws question here, and it is unnecessary for the court to consider the recent...
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Sharon A. Waranka Individually & Representative of the Estate of Waranka v. Wadena Ins. Co.
...court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin reached the same conclusion when addressing a similar scenario. Shaver v. Soo Line R.R. Co., 284 F.Supp. 701 (E.D.Wis.1968). In Shaver, a widow brought an action in her own name and in her own right, premised on her husband's death in Michigan. Id......
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Waranka v. Wadena Ins. Co.
...conflict between laws, we need not apply conflict of laws rules. Sharp, 227 Wis.2d at 10–11, 595 N.W.2d 380;Shaver v. Soo Line R.R. Co., 284 F.Supp. 701, 702 (E.D.Wis.1968). Shaver provides directly on-point, persuasive authority. There, a Wisconsin widow brought an action in federal court ......
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Schnabl v. Ford Motor Co.
...Wis. 141, 133 N.W. 148; Anderson v. Miller Scrap Iron Co. (1922), 176 Wis. 521, 182 N.W. 852, 187 N.W. 746; and Shaver v. Soo Line R.R. Co. (D.C.Wis.1968), 284 F.Supp. 701. However, none of these cases support respondents' contention, since they all involve deaths which were plainly 'caused......
- Schack v. Wainwright, Civ. No. 68-624.