Deming v. Carlisle Packing Co.

Background

A Washington packing company sued a local man and two out-of-state corporations over a breached contract to buy salmon. The case went to a jury after the court denied the defendants’ motions to throw out the local man as a defendant. The jury found for the packing company and the state supreme court affirmed that judgment.

Reasoning

The corporate defendants later asked to move the case into federal court, saying the local man had been joined only as a cover because he was merely an agent and not personally liable. The trial judge denied removal, noting the earlier denial to throw out the local man showed there was evidence against him. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the removal claim raised no substantial federal question. The Court explained defendants cannot manufacture a federal right to move the case after trial by rearguing who is really liable, and found the federal argument plainly frivolous.

Real world impact

The ruling keeps the state-court contract judgment in force and makes clear defendants cannot routinely shift verdicts to federal court by later claiming a resident party was only an agent. Because the Court found the federal claim frivolous, it treated dismissal like an affirmance for penalties and ordered a five percent damages penalty on the judgment, plus interest and costs. This decision enforces finality for state trials and deters baseless federal appeals seeking delay.