New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co. v. Nothnagle et al. (346 U.S. 128)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 8, 1953 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 346 U.S. 128 · 73 S. Ct. 986
- Docket
- No. 525
- Argued
- April 29, 1953
- Decided
- June 8, 1953
- Term
- October Term 1952
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Clark
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Minton, Justice Clark (wrote), Justice Burton, Justice Douglas, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Reed, Justice Black
Opinion excerpt
Mu. Justice Clark delivered the opinion of the Court. This case concerns the extent of an interstate carrier’s liability for a passenger’s baggage loss. On October 5, 1949, Mrs. Nothnagle, respondent here, purchased a railway ticket from petitioner in Meriden, Connecticut, for a journey to Fall River, Massachusetts, via New Haven, Connecticut. She boarded a train in Meriden at 11:19 a. m. and arrived shortly after 11:30 a. m. in New Haven where she alighted for transfer to another train. On the station platform her suitcase was solicited by a redcap employee of petitioner, and she handed it to him with orders to return it at the Fall River train departing at 12:40 p. m. No baggage check was given; no money was paid. The suitcase vanished, and respondent sued. At trial in the Meriden City Court the parties stipulated that the baggage and contents actually worth $615 were lost due to petitioner’s negligence. Petitioner insisted, however, that its liability as an interstate carrier was governed by a tariff schedule filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission which limited a recovery for baggage loss to $25 unless the passenger had in writing declared a higher valuation. The state courts granted full recovery to respondent. The trial court found that although respondent had not declared a greater value, she had neither actual knowledge of petitioner’s asserted restriction nor…
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