WATSON et ux. v. EMPLOYERS LIABILITY ASSURANCE CORPORATION, LTD. et al. (348 U.S. 66)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 6, 1954 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 348 U.S. 66 · 75 S. Ct. 166
- Docket
- No. 6
- Argued
- October 14, 1954
- Decided
- December 6, 1954
- Term
- October Term 1954
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Black
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Warren, Justice Black (wrote), Justice Douglas, Justice Clark, Justice Burton, Justice Reed, Justice Minton
- Concurring in the judgment
- Justice Frankfurter (wrote)
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court. Louisiana has an insurance code which comprehensively regulates the business of insurance in all its phases. This case brings to us challenges to the constitutionality of certain provisions of that code allowing injured persons to bring direct actions against liability insurance companies that have issued policies contracting to pay liabilities imposed on persons who inflict injury. Cf. Lumbermen’s Mutual Casualty Co. v. Elbert, decided today, ante, p. 48. This is such a direct action brought by the appellants, Mr. and Mrs. Watson, in a Louisiana state court claiming damages against the appellee, Employers Liability Assurance Corporation, Ltd., on account of alleged personal injuries suffered by Mrs. Watson. The complaint charged that the injuries occurred in Louisiana when Mrs. Watson bought and used in that State “Toni Home Permanent” a hair-waving product alleged to have contained a highly dangerous latent ingredient put there by its manufacturer. The manufacturer is the Toni Company of Illinois, a subsidiary of the Gillette Safety Razor Company which has its headquarters in Massachusetts. The particular problem presented with reference to enforcing the Louisiana statute in this case arises because the insurance policy sued on was negotiated and issued in Massachusetts and delivered in Massachusetts and Illinois. This…
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