United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co. v. Simpson, 286 U.S. 346 (1932)

St. Louis Southwestern Railway Co. v. Simpson

No. 674

Argued April 25, 1932

Decided May 16, 1932

286 U.S. 346

Syllabus

A locomotive engineer moved his train from a siding to the main line in neglect of an order to wait for the passing of another train. His conductor, in the caboose at the other end of his train, had his attention called to the possible danger, but deferred applying the air brakes while he consulted his own orders to make sure whether the order to wait had been countermanded. Almost immediately came a collision in which the engineer was killed.

Held: 1. The casualty was attributable to the engineer's negligence. P. 350.

Page 286 U. S. 347

2. The inaction of the conductor, if it amounted to negligence, was not such as to evoke the doctrine of last clear chance, since (1) it was not reckless indifference to a duty to counteract a peril perceived and understood, and (2) it was substantially concurrent with the engineer's negligence. P. 286 U. S. 350.

184 Ark, 633, 43 S.W. 2d 251, reversed.

Certiorari, 285 U.S. 531, to review the affirmance of a recovery from the railway company under the Federal Employers' Liability Act.

Page 286 U. S. 348