United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Tipton v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. Co., 298 U.S. 141 (1936)

Tipton v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co.

No. 664

Argued March 31, 1936

Decided April 27, 1936

298 U.S. 141

Syllabus

1. The remedy of an employee of a railway which is a highway of interstate commerce for personal injuries suffered while he is engaged about intrastate transportation, and caused by a breach of the Federal Safety Appliance Acts, is the remedy afforded by the common or statutory law of the State. P. 298 U. S. 146.

2. In such cases, the State is at liberty to afford any appropriate remedy for breach of the duty imposed by the federal Acts, including the remedy of workmen's compensation, and the state law on the subject is binding on the federal courts. P. 298 U. S. 147.

3. In California, the exclusive remedy in such cases is under the state workmen's compensation act. P. 298 U. S. 149.

4. A construction of a state statute by the state courts resulting from their erroneous conception of federal statutes is not binding on the federal courts. P. 298 U. S. 151.

78 F.2d 450 affirmed.

Certiorari, 297 U.S. 700, to review the affirmance of a judgment dismissing an action by a railway employee against the Railway Company to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by a defective coupling on a freight car, used in violation of the Federal Safety Appliance Acts.

Page 298 U. S. 145