Schlemmer v. Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg Railway Co.

Background

A railroad brakeman, Adam M. Schlemmer, was killed while trying to couple a shovel car to the caboose. The shovel car lacked the automatic coupler required by a federal law. Schlemmer went under the shovel car to raise its heavy drawbar into the caboose's coupler, was twice warned to keep his head down and that a safer method was available, and was crushed and killed when the cars met.

Reasoning

The legal question was whether the state courts’ finding that Schlemmer was contributorily negligent denied his estate any protection from the federal safety law. The Court explained that the federal statute removed the employer’s defense of assumed risk but did not abolish the common-law defense of contributory negligence. Reviewing the trial record, the Court concluded there was ample evidence that Schlemmer attempted a dangerous method after being cautioned and after a safer way was pointed out, so the state courts did not deprive the estate of rights under the federal statute.

Real world impact

The decision means that, at the time of this case, a worker could be denied recovery if his own careless choice contributed to injury even when the employer violated a federal safety law. The opinion also records that Congress later amended the law (in 1908) to prevent contributory negligence from barring recovery when an employer’s statutory safety violation contributed to the injury, signaling that the legal rules changed after this case.