United States v. Yellow Cab Co. (340 U.S. 543)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 26, 1951 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 340 U.S. 543 · 71 S. Ct. 399
- Decided
- February 26, 1951
- Term
- October Term 1950
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Burton
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Mb. Justice Burton delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented is whether the Federal Tort Claims Act empowers a United States District Court to require the United States to be impleaded as a third-party defendant and to answer the claim of a joint tort-feasor for contribution as if the United States were a private individual. For the reasons hereinafter stated, we hold that it does. No. 218 — Yellow Cab Case. December 1, 1946, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, four passengers in a taxicab were injured by a collision between the cab and a United States mail truck. Claiming diversity of citizenship and charging negligence on the part of the cab driver, they sued his employer, the Yellow Cab Company, in the United States District Court. By leave of court, the company impleaded the United States as a third-party defendant and charged that the negligence of the mail truck driver made the United States liable for all or part of the passengers’ claims against the company. The United States moved for its dismissal as a third-party defendant on the ground that the Federal Tort Claims Act does not authorize suits against it on derivative claims. The motions were denied. The court tried the cases together, without a jury, and rendered judgments against the company totaling $7,800, but in favor of the company against the United States for one-half of the several amounts…
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