United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

St. Louis & San Francisco R. Co. v. Conarty, 238 U.S. 243 (1915)

St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company v. Conarty

No. 166

Submitted March 3, 1915

Decided June 14, 1915

238 U.S. 243

Syllabus

Where a duty is imposed for the protection of person in particular situations or relation, a breach of it which happen to result in injury to one in an altogether different situation or relation is not, as to him, actionable.

The evil against which the coupler provision of the Safety Appliance Act are directed are those which attended the old-fashioned link and pin coupling where it was necessary for men to go between the ends of the cars to couple and uncouple them; it was not enacted to provide a place of safety between colliding cars.

An employee of a railroad company not endeavoring or intending to couple or uncouple a car or to handle it in any way, but riding on an engine that collided with it, is not in a position where the absence of a coupler and drawbar prescribed by the Safety Appliance Act operates as a breach of duty imposed by that Act for his benefit.

106 Ark. 421 reversed.

The facts, which involve the construction and application of the Safety Appliance Act in an action for injuries based upon the Employers' Liability Act, are stated in the opinion.

Page 238 U. S. 248