St Louis, San Francisco Texas Railway Company v. Maude Seale

CourtUnited States Supreme Court
Citation57 L.Ed. 1129,229 U.S. 156,33 S.Ct. 651
Docket NumberNo. 857,857
PartiesST. LOUIS, SAN FRANCISCO, & TEXAS RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. MAUDE SEALE et al
Decision Date26 May 1913

Messrs. Cecil H. Smith and W. F. Evans for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. Judson H. Wood and James P. Haven for defendants in error.

Mr. Justice Van Devanter delivered the opinion of the court:

This was an action against a railroad company, by the widow and parents of one of its employees, to recover damages for his death while in its service in its railroad yard at North Sherman, Texas, the death being caused, as was alleged, by the negligence of other employees. The action was begun in one of the courts of the state, and resulted in a judgment for the plaintiffs, which was affirmed by the court of civil appeals. 148 S. W. 1099. A petition for a writ of error was denied by the supreme court of the state, and the present writ of error to the court of civil appeals was then allowed. See Bacon v. Texas, 163 U. S. 207, 215, 41 L. ed. 132, 135, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1023; Norfolk & S. Turnp. Co. v. Virginia, 225 U. S. 264, 269, 56 L. ed. 1082, 1086, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 828.

A motion to dismiss the writ is interposed, but the grounds of the motion are plainly untenable, and it is denied.

In the trial court and again in the court of civil appeals the railroad company contended that the injuries which caused the death of the deceased were received while the company was engaged, and while he was employed by it, in interstate commerce; that its liability for his death was exclusively regulated and controlled by the employers' liability act of April 22, 1908 (35 Stat. at L. 65, chap. 149, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1911, p. 1322); and that, if liable, it was liable only to his personal representative, and not to the plaintiffs or any of them. This contention was denied by both courts, and the correctness of that ruling is the matter now to be considered.

The cause of action sought to be enforced was not recognized at common law. Michigan C. R. Co v. Vreeland, 227 U. S. 59, 67, 57 L. ed. ——, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 192. It was essential, therefore, that it be based on some applicable statute. Therewas a Texas statute on the subject, and also the Federal one. Both could not occupy the same field, and they were unlike. The Texas statute gave the right of action of the 'surviving husband, wife, children, and parents,' and provided that it might be enforced by all of them or by one or more for the benefit of all; while the Federal statute vested the right of action in the deceased's 'personal representative, for the benefit of the surviving widow or husband and children of such employee; and, if none, then of such employee's parents; and, if none, then of the next of kin dependent upon such employee.' There were other points of dissimilarity, but they need not be noticed. If the Federal statute was applicable, the state statute was excluded by reason of the supremacy of the former under the national Constitution. Second Employers' Liability Cases (Mondou v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co.) 223 U. S. 1, 53, 56 L. ed. 327, 347, 38 L.R.A.(N.S.) 44, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 169; Michigan C. R. Co. v. Vreeland, supra. And if the Federal statute was applicable, the right of recovery, if any, was in the personal representative of the deceased, and no one else could maintain the action. Briggs v. Walker, 171 U. S. 466, 471, 43 L. ed. 243, 245, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 1; American R. Co. v. Birch, 224 U. S. 547, 557, 56 L. ed. 879, 882, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 603; Missouri, K. & T. R. Co. v. Wulf, 226 U. S. 570, 576, 57 L. ed. ——, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 135; Troxell v. Delaware, L. & W. R. Co. 227 U. S. 434, 443, 57 L. ed. ——, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 274. The real question, therefore, is, whether the Federal statute was applicable; and this turns upon whether the injuries which caused the death of the deceased were sustained while the company was engaged, and while he was employed by it, in interstate commerce. Second Employers' Liability Cases, supra; Pedersen v. Delaware, L. & W. R. Co. (decision announced with this). [228 U. S. ——, 57 L. ed. ——, 33 Sup. Ct. Rep. 648.]

The plaintiffs' petition was altogether silent upon that subject, and the defendant, by appropriate special exceptions, called attention to the two statutes, insisted that whether one or the other applied depended upon facts not stated, and asked that the plaintiffs be required so to state the facts as to enable it to perceive which statute was relied upon. The exceptions were overruled, and when that matter came before the court of civil appeals it said: 'The action was brought under the state law, and the petition stated a good cause of action, and was not subject to the exceptions presented.' By its answer the defendant put in issue the allegations of the petition, and the evidence adduced upon the trial established without dispute the following facts:

The defendant was a Texas corporation owning and operating a railroad extending from the boundary between Oklahoma and Texas southward through North Sherman. This railroad connected at the Oklahoma boundary with another one extending northward through Madill, and the two were so operated that trains were run through from North Sherman to Madill, and from Madill to North Sherman. The defendant was engaged in both intrastate and interstate commerce, much the larger part of the traffic handled in its North Sherman yard being interstate. The deceased was employed by the defendant as a yard clerk in that yard, and his principal duties were those of examining incoming and outgoing trains and making a record of the numbers and initials on the cars, of inspecting and making a record of the seals on the car doors, of checking the cars with the conductors' lists, and of putting cards or labels on the...

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