Brown v. Western Railway of Alabama (338 U.S. 294)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 21, 1949 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 338 U.S. 294 · 70 S. Ct. 105
- Decided
- November 21, 1949
- Term
- October Term 1949
- Vote
- 6–2
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioner brought this action in a Georgia state court claiming damages from the respondent railroad under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. 45 U. S. C. § 51 et seq. Respondent filed a general demurrer to the complaint on the ground that it failed to “set forth a cause of action and is otherwise insufficient in law.” The trial court sustained the demurrer and dismissed the cause of action. The Court of Appeals affirmed, 77 Ga. App. 780, 49 S. E. 2d 833, and the Supreme Court of Georgia denied certiorari. It is agreed that under Georgia law the dismissal is a final adjudication barring recovery in any future state proceeding. The petition for certiorari here presented the question of whether the complaint did set forth a cause of action sufficient to survive a general demurrer resulting in final dismissal. Certiorari was granted because the implications of the dismissal were considered important to a correct and uniform application of the federal act in the state and federal courts. See Brady v. Southern R. Co., 320 U. S. 476. First. The Georgia Court of Appeals held that “Stripped of its details, the petition shows that the plaintiff was injured while in the performance of his duties when he stepped on a large clinker lying alongside the track in the railroad yards. . . . The mere presence of a large clinker in a…
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