Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. Howell

Background

Howell, a railroad worker, sued his employer after a piece of timber fell and struck him on the head while he was digging a hole under a coal chute. The employer had sent other men to remove timbers and planks from a floor about twelve feet above him, and Howell said he did not know they were working overhead. Howell later developed tuberculosis of the spine and claimed the blow caused the disease. He won a jury verdict and judgment, which the federal courts affirmed, and Justice Holmes delivered the opinion.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the employer could be held responsible when ordering or allowing work above an employee contributes to an injury and whether that blow could be the direct cause of a later spinal disease. The jury was told the employer would be liable if sending men to work above Howell contributed to the injury, but not if the harm came only from the careless way fellow workers did their jobs. The Court said that even if Howell knew repairs were happening overhead, that did not necessarily mean he had taken the risk, and the jury could reasonably find the blow directly produced the disease.

Real world impact

The ruling confirms that juries can decide whether employers who have work done above employees must answer for injuries that later cause illness. Employers cannot automatically avoid liability because another worker’s conduct played a role or because the injured person had latent health issues. The judgment was affirmed on appeal.