Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Ry. Co., 224 U.S. 85 (1912)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Ry. Co., 224 U.S. 85 (1912)
Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Railway Company No. 14 Submitted March 6, 191 Decided March 18, 1912 224 U.S. 85
CERTIFICATE FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
Courts may not abolish an established rule of law upon personal notions of what is expedient, and so as to the fellow servant doctrine, even if it be, as it has been called, a bad exception to a bad rule.
In cases tried in the United States courts, the court must follow its understanding of the common law when no settled rule of property intervenes.
The fellow servant rule applies where the character of their respective occupation brings the people engaged in them into necessary and frequent contact even if they have no personal relation.
An employee of a railroad company engaged in work in the repair yard is a fellow servant of the crew of a switching engine of the same company engaged in running cars needing repairs into the yard.
Although the question of fellow servant may be left to the jury in the state court, the question whether the facts do or do not constitute a ground of liability is one of law; this Court accordingly answers a question certified by the circuit court of appeals as to whether employee in this case were fellow servants.
If a law is bad, the legislature, and not juries, must change it.
The facts, which involve the determination of whether certain classes of employees of railroad companies are fellow servants, are stated in the opinion.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Ry. Co., 224 U.S. 85 (1912) in 224 U.S. 85 224 U.S. 88. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=WW1YFQMPGCJMIUV.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Ry. Co., 224 U.S. 85 (1912), in 224 U.S. 85, page 224 U.S. 88. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=WW1YFQMPGCJMIUV.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Beutler v. Grand Trunk Junction Ry. Co., 224 U.S. 85 (1912). cited in 1912, 224 U.S. 85, pp.224 U.S. 88. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=WW1YFQMPGCJMIUV.
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