152 N.E. 296 | Ind. Ct. App. | 1926
Action by appellee against appellant for damages for personal injuries. At all times mentioned in the complaint, appellant operated a railroad from St. Louis, Missouri, through the town of Cayuga, Indiana, to Toledo, Ohio, and in the operation of the road more than 100 men were employed. Adjacent to Cayuga, appellant maintained and operated, as a part of its railroad equipment, a coal dock for the purpose of coaling its trains, some of which were interstate and some intrastate trains. A short distance west of the dock, a switch left the main track and extended east along the north side of the dock, thus placing the dock between the *64 switch and the main track, and adjacent to both. The switch track was so constructed that it had a gradual elevation beginning at its junction with the main track, and continuing east past the dock about 150 feet, where cars loaded with coal were regularly placed so that they would be ready for use at the dock when needed. The loaded cars were brought to the storage tracks by men of a switching crew, none of whom had anything to do with the operation of the dock. In the operation of the dock, the cars loaded with coal were moved down the inclined switch track from the place of storage to a point directly over the coal pit, which was a part of the dock. The coal was dumped through the bottoms of the cars upon grating over the pit, through which grating the coal would pass when sufficiently broken with hammers. By machinery, the coal was taken from the pit in buckets, released into a chute, and carried by gravity to the engines to be coaled. Appellee had charge of the dock, and operated the same without assistance. His duties were to bring the loaded cars from the place where they were left by the switching crew to the dock, adjust each car so that it was directly over the grating above the pit, dump the coal from the cars, break the lumps of coal so that it would pass through the grating, and then operate the machinery by which the coal was taken from the pit to the tenders of the locomotives. The dock was of approved design, and consisted of one mechanical unit, which was used, not only in hoisting the coal from the pit, but also in adjusting the loaded cars over the pit. On February 23, 1922, appellee, in the performance of his duty, moved a car loaded with coal a distance of 150 feet west from the storage yard to the dock. The track over which the car was moved was slightly down grade, and, for other reasons which it is not necessary to mention here, the car did not stop at the pit, but ran a short distance farther west. Whereupon, appellee, by use of *65 the dock machinery, sought to bring the car back to the pit; in doing so, his hands were caught in the machinery and injured. To recover damages for his injuries, appellee instituted this action against appellant. On the trial, the evidence, without conflict, established the above facts. Among the instructions given by the court was one that appellee, at the time of his injury, was not engaged in interstate commerce, within the meaning of the federal Employers' Liability Act (§§ 8657-8665 U.S. Comp. Stat. 1918). There was a verdict and judgment for appellee.
The only question presented by this appeal which it will be necessary to consider is: Was appellee at the time he received the injuries complained of engaged in interstate commerce, within the meaning of the federal Employers' Liability Act? If the question is answered in the affirmative, the judgment must be reversed.
It is conceded that at the time appellee received his injuries, appellant was a common carrier by railroad and engaged in interstate commerce. The contention of appellee is that the operation by him of the dock machinery in locating the carload of coal over the pit was too remote to constitute an act of interstate traffic. In this view we cannot concur.
The question as to whether an employee of a railroad company which carries on both intrastate and interstate commerce is, by reason of the character of his particular employment, 1. engaged in interstate commerce at the time of an injury, has often been considered by the courts, both state and federal. The courts uniformly hold that the test to be applied in such cases is: "Was the employee at the time of the injury engaged in interstate transportation, or in work so closely related to it as to be practically a part of it." *66 Baltimore, etc., R. Co. v. Faust (1925),
In the case of Erie R. Co. v. Collins (1920),
Following the Collins case, and on authority of it, the United States Supreme Court, in Erie R. Co. v. Szary (1920),
But appellee calls our attention to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Harrington
(1915),
The conclusion we have reached is in harmony with the decisions by many state courts of appeal which have had under consideration questions which were in all material respects the same.
The Iowa Supreme Court, in Slatinka v. United States Ry.Adm. (1922),
Reversed.