United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Wells-Dickey Trust Co., 275 U.S. 161 (1927)

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company v.

Wells-Dickey Trust Company

No. 57

Argued October 20, 1927

Decided November 21, 1927

275 U.S. 161

Syllabus

Under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, the cause of action for death of an employee, upon which suit is to be brought by the decedent's personal representative, accrues, (a) to the widow and children if any survive, (b) to the parents, if neither widow nor children survive, or (c) to dependent next of kin, if there be no surviving widow, child or parent; but the liability is to one of the three classes, not to the several classes collectively, and if the person, e.g., the mother, entitled at the death of the employee dies thereafter before a recovery of the compensation, the cause of action dies also, and suit may not be brought on behalf of the class next in line. P. 275 U. S. 162.

159 Minn. 417; 166 id. 79, 83, reversed.

Certiorari, 271 U.S. 657, to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Minnesota affirming a recovery of damages in a suit under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, brought by the special administrator of a deceased railroad employee on behalf of his sister as dependent next of kin.