Davis v. Green

Background

The case combines two lawsuits brought by the widow and children of Jesse Green, a conductor killed by an engineer named McLendon. The plaintiffs sued the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad Company, alleging wilful and wanton killing. The defendant pleaded that the parties were engaged in interstate commerce at the time, raising federal law issues. At trial a judge ruled the work was interstate, a jury awarded $35,000, and the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld liability but limited recovery based on the federal statute.

Reasoning

The Court focused on whether the railroad could be held liable under federal law for an intentional, spiteful killing by an employee acting outside the scope of his job. The opinion explains that the engineer’s act was a wilful personal wrong done to satisfy temper or spite, not an act in furtherance of the railroad’s business. Because the killing was not within the scope of employment, the railroad is not liable under the United States statutes cited. The Court also noted that the record treated interstate commerce as uncontested and that the defendant should not lose federal defenses when that fact was not adequately proved, so the judgment was reversed.

Real world impact

Practically, employers will not be held under the cited federal law for intentional, purely personal violence by an employee while that employee’s job is ongoing if the act is outside job duties. The case is not a final resolution on all facts; the Court allows further proceedings and possible retrial so the character of the employment and the interstate-commerce issue can be properly decided.