Mellon v. Weiss
Headline: Court reverses state judgment and bars a late shipping claim by holding that substituting the federal Agent starts a new suit, so the bill-of-lading’s two-year-and-one-day deadline applies to shippers and heirs.
Holding: The Court held that substituting the federal Agent as defendant after federal control ended starts a new lawsuit, so the bill of lading’s two-year-and-one-day limit barred the late claim.
- Late substitutions of the federal Agent can leave claims time-barred under bill-of-lading deadlines.
- Claimants must file suit within two years and one day after reasonable delivery time.
- Substituting the Agent starts a new, independent proceeding for enforcing Government liability.
Summary
Background
In November 1918 a bale of rags was shipped while the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad was under federal control and was not delivered within a reasonable time that expired in December 1918. The owner assigned his damage claim to Nominsky, who sued the railroad in Massachusetts in May 1919. That suit was dismissed because it named only the railroad. In January 1922 the writ and declaration were amended to substitute Davis, the federal Agent and Director General, as defendant and the summons was served; later Nominsky died and Weiss, his administrator, became the plaintiff.
Reasoning
Davis argued the claim was barred by the bill of lading, which required suits within two years and one day after a reasonable delivery time if delivery failed. The Court applied a prior rule that a suit against a railroad is not a suit against the Director General and that substituting the designated Agent after federal control ends is the start of a new, independent proceeding to enforce Government liability. Because the substitution occurred more than two years and one day after the reasonable time for delivery, the bill-of-lading time limit barred the claim. The Supreme Court reversed the state court judgment for the plaintiff.
Real world impact
The decision means shippers and their assignees must meet the contractual time limits in bills of lading even when federal control and later substitution of the federal Agent are involved. Late substitution of the federal Agent cannot revive a time-barred claim, so claimants need to file earlier or risk losing recovery.
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