United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Engel v. Davenport, 271 U.S. 33 (1926)

Engel v. Davenport

No. 189

Submitted January 26, 1926

Decided April 12, 1926

271 U.S. 33

Syllabus

1. A complaint by a seaman against a ship owner for damages for injuries alleged to have resulted from the owner's negligence in furnishing a defective appliance held an action under the Merchant Marine Act as supplemented by the Employers' Liability Act, in which the plaintiff must prove negligence and subject himself to reduction of damages in proportion to any contributory negligence on his part. P. 271 U. S. 36.

2. The state courts have jurisdiction, concurrently with the federal courts, to enforce the right of action established by the Merchant Marine Act as a part of the maritime law. P. 271 U. S. 37.

3. The provision of the Employers' Liability Act that "no action shall be maintained under this Act unless commenced within two years from the day the cause of action accrued" is one of substantive right, both setting a limit and necessarily implying that the action may be maintained, as a substantive right, within that period. P. 271 U. S. 38.

4. This provision was incorporated by adoption in the Merchant Marine Act, and controls in actions brought under that Act in state courts, regardless of the statutes of limitations of the states. P. 271 U. S. 38.

194 Cal. 344 reversed.

Certiorari to a judgment of the Supreme Court of California which affirmed a judgment dismissing, on demurrer, a complaint in an action for damages, brought by Engel against Davenport.

Page 271 U. S. 34