Texas Pipe Line Co. v. Ware

• Citation: 15 F.2d 171
• Decision Date: 20 September 1926
• Docket Number: No. 7224.,7224.
• Parties: TEXAS PIPE LINE CO. v. WARE.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

15 F.2d 171 (1926)

TEXAS PIPE LINE CO. v. WARE.

No. 7224.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

September 20, 1926.

L. B. Smead, of Camden, Ark. (H. E. Meek, of Camden, Ark., and J. S. Atkinson, of Shreveport, La., on the brief), for plaintiff in error.

Wade Kitchens, of Magnolia, Ark., and William H. Arnold, Jr., William H. Arnold and David C. Arnold, all of Texarkana, Ark., for defendant in error.

Before SANBORN, STONE, and KENYON, Circuit Judges.

KENYON, Circuit Judge.

This action was commenced in the circuit court of Fayette county, Ark., in April, 1924, by J. L. Ware, defendant in error (who for convenience, however, will be designated as plaintiff), against the Texas Pipe Line Company, plaintiff in error (designated as defendant), to recover damages in the sum of $10,000 for personal injury to plaintiff while in the employ of defendant. A petition for removal of the cause of action to the federal court was filed by defendant, and on August 11, 1924, the case was removed to the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. In that court defendant moved to compel plaintiff to make the complaint more specific, by stating whether or not his contract of employment was executed with reference to the Workmen's Compensation Law of Louisiana (Act No. 20 of 1914, as amended), and whether or not he was seeking to enforce liability devolving upon defendant under the said act.

Plaintiff conceded said motion and filed an amendment to his complaint, alleging that the suit was brought in a double aspect, but, if required so to do, he would elect that the case should be governed by the Workmen's Compensation Law of Louisiana. Defendant then moved, inasmuch as plaintiff's complaint and amendment thereto alleged a right to recovery under said Workmen's Compensation Law for personal injury occurring within the state of Louisiana, that the same should be dismissed for the reason that the provisions of said Act could not be enforced by any court outside of that state. This motion was overruled by the court, and it proceeded to hear the case without a jury; defendant having filed answer admitting the suit was governed by said Workmen's Compensation Law. The court made findings of fact, among which was one that plaintiff was entitled to compensation at the rate of $18 per week for 100 weeks, and that certain credits were to be allowed. The judgment entered recited that "this cause came on to be heard on May 2, 1925, before the court, under the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Law of the state of Louisiana," and ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the plaintiff recover of defendant compensation for 76 weeks, at the rate of $18 per week, the first payment to be due February 1, 1924.

Defendant, in the assignment of errors and in the brief, presents but one question, viz. the injury to plaintiff having occurred within the state of Louisiana, can the action for compensation, based on the Workmen's Compensation Law of that state, be brought in any other courts than those of the state of Louisiana?

It is without question that, when the case was removed upon petition of defendant from the state court to the United States District Court, and there lodged, such court was invested with complete and plenary jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject-matter. Did the amendment filed, setting forth the nature of the case as one to enforce rights granted by the Workmen's Compensation Law of Louisiana, change this situation?

It is the well-established general doctrine that rights created by statutes of the states may be enforced in the federal courts, necessary jurisdictional facts existing. In Northern Pacific R. Co. v. Babcock, 154 U. S. 190, 14 S. Ct. 978, 38 L. Ed. 958, the Supreme Court said: "Rights and remedies provided by the statutes of a state to be pursued in its courts may be enforced and administered in the federal courts, either at law, in equity, or in admiralty, as the nature of the new rights and remedies may require." In National Surety Co. v. State Bank, 120 F. 593, 603, 56 C. C. A. 657, 667 (61 L. R. A. 394) this court said: "Rights created and remedies provided by the statutes of the states, to be pursued in the state courts, may be enforced and administered in the national courts, either at law, in equity, or in admiralty, as the nature of the rights or remedies may require." Evey v. Mexican Ry. Co., Ltd., 81 F. 294, 26 C. C. A. 407, 38 L. R. A. 387; Clark v. Russell, 97 F. 900, 38 C. C. A. 541; Dennick v. Central R. Co., 103 U. S. 11, 26 L. Ed. 439.

State statutes, attempting to limit procedure to the state courts to enforce or secure rights created by the legislative authority of a state, have not been successful in accomplishing any such result. Such statutes cannot prevent the exercise of jurisdiction by the federal courts, where the facts exist which under the Constitution and the statutes of Congress give jurisdiction to such federal courts.

In Tennessee Coal Co. v. George, 233 U. S. 354, 34 S. Ct. 587, 58 L. Ed. 997, L. R. A. 1916D, 685, a statute of Alabama (section 3910) made the master liable to an employé when the injury was caused by reason of a defect in the conditions of ways, wires, machinery, etc. Section 6115 of the Alabama Code provided that all actions under said section 3910 must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction within the state of Alabama and not elsewhere. The action was brought in another state. The full faith and credit clause of the federal Constitution (article 4, § 1) was involved. The court said: "But venue is no part of the right, and a state cannot create a transitory cause of action, and at the same time destroy the right to sue on that transitory cause of action in any court having jurisdiction. That jurisdiction is to be determined by the law of the court's creation, and cannot be defeated by the extraterritorial operation of a statute of another state, even though it created the right of action."

In Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Ry. Co. v. Sowers, 213 U. S. 55, 67, 29 S. Ct. 397, 401 (53 L. Ed. 695), it was contended that the statute of New Mexico created a new statutory cause of action, taking the place of a common-law right and that the provision that the action should be brought only in a particular district was enforceable. The court said: "An action for personal injuries is universally held to be transitory, and maintainable wherever a court may be found that has jurisdiction of the parties and the subject-matter." And the court held that the jurisdiction of the Texas courts was not defeated because of the provision of the statute of New Mexico herein referred to. Stewart v. B. & O. R. Co., 168 U. S. 445, 18 S. Ct. 105, 42 L. Ed. 537; Herrick v. M. & St. L. Ry. Co., 31 Minn. 11, 16 N. W. 413, 47 Am. Rep. 771.

In Dennick v. Railroad Co., 103 U. S. 11, 26 L. Ed. 439, Justice Miller pointed out that, where the several states have substituted the statute for common law, it would be a dangerous doctrine to hold that the liability thereby created could only be enforced in the state where the statute was enacted and the transaction occurred, and that if an action was a personal one, and of a character recognized as transitory and not local, no reason existed why a defendant could not be held liable in any court where jurisdiction could be obtained.

In American Tank Co. v. Continental & Commercial Trust & Savings Bank et al., 3 F.(2d) 122, 126, this court had before it a question as to the enforcement of a mechanic's lien under the Arkansas statutes. One section of the mechanic's lien law provided that all liens created by the act must be enforced in the circuit court of the county wherein the property on which the lien exists is situated, and that no action had been so commenced. This court said: "But in cases wherein, as in this case, a party by virtue of the amount involved and the residence and citizenship of the parties, or by virtue of other facts vesting jurisdiction in the federal court, is entitled to invoke its jurisdiction to enforce its lien, the power is vested in and the duty is imposed upon that court to enforce the civil rights and remedies of that party created by the statutes of the state and enforceable in the courts of that state."

In Clark v. Russell, 97 F. 900, 38 C. C. A. 541, this court discusses the question of a right of action under a Nebraska statute imposing liability for damages inflicted upon a person or passenger while being transported over a railroad, except in certain cases. The action was brought in the state court of Colorado and removed to the United States court. It was claimed it could not be prosecuted in the court of any jurisdiction except Nebraska. The court held contrary to this contention, and pointed out that the statute gave a substantive right of action and said (page 902 38 C. C. A. 543): "That right recovery for injury attaches at the moment of the injury, and adheres in it until satisfaction is made. The action is transitory, and may be asserted in any jurisdiction, and in whatever jurisdiction it is asserted the Nebraska statute furnishes the measure of the plaintiffs' right, so far as its provisions extend."

The general rule as to the pursuit in the courts of other states or of the nation of rights created by a state is subject to the limitation that the right sought to be enforced is not inconsistent with any local or public policy of the state where suit is brought in its courts to enforce the right, or with the public policy of the United States if suit is brought in the federal courts.

In Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé Ry. Co. v. Sowers, 213 U. S. 55, 67, 29 S. Ct. 397, 402 (53 L. Ed. 695), the court stated the rule as follows: "It is then the settled law of this court that in such statutory actions the law of the place is to govern in enforcing the right in another jurisdiction, but such actions may be sustained in other jurisdictions when not inconsistent with...