United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Minneapolis, St.P. & S.S.M. Ry. Co. v. Goneau, 269 U.S. 406 (1926)

Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company v. Goneau

No. 76

Argued December 3, 1925

Decided January 4, 1926

269 U.S. 406

Syllabus

1. A brakeman, in an endeavor to couple a train where it had parted between two cars while en route due to a defect in one of the automatic couplings, went between the ends of the cars and, while exerting himself to bring the defective part into place, lost his balance as a result of its sudden yielding, fell from a bridge on which the cars had stopped, and suffered injury.

Held:

(1) That the defective car was in use, though motionless. P. 269 U. S. 409.

(2) The act of the brakeman was a coupling, not a repair, operation. P. 269 U. S. 410.

(3) The defective coupling was a proximate cause of the accident and, it being in violation of the Safety Appliance Act, the brakeman, under § 4 of the Employers' Liability Act, did not assume the risk. Id.

(4) Section 4 of the Supplemental Safety Appliance Act of 1910, which permits defective cars, in certain circumstances, to be hauled without penalties to the nearest available point of repair, but without releasing the carrier from liability for the injury of any employee caused by or in connection with such hauling, had no application. Id.

159 Minn. 41 affirmed.

Certiorari to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Minnesota affirming a recovery of damages for personal injuries.

Page 269 U. S. 407