United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Oregon Short Line Ry. Co. v. Skottowe, 162 U.S. 490 (1896)

Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway Company v. Skottowe

No. 147

Argued March 17, 1896

Decided April 20, 1896

162 U.S. 490

Syllabus

This case comes within the established rule that on an application for removal from a state to a federal court, the federal question or the federal character of the defendant company must appear from the complaint in the action in order to justify a removal, and such federal question or character does not appear in this case.

This was an action brought in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Wasco County by Jane Skottowe against the Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway Company for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by the negligence of the defendant company. The complaint was filed on October 31, 1890, and on November 10, 1890, the defendant filed a petition for the removal of the cause from the state court into the circuit court of the United States. This petition was denied, to which ruling the defendant excepted.

The case was proceeded in, and trial on the merits in the state court resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $10,000. To this judgment a writ of error was sued out to the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon, assigning as error, among others, the action of the trial court in denying the defendant's petition for the removal of the cause into the circuit court of the United States.

The supreme court of the state affirmed the judgment of the trial court, and a writ of error was allowed to this Court.

Page 162 U. S. 493