American Railroad Co. of Porto Rico v. Didricksen
Citations
- 227 U.S. 145
- 33 S. Ct. 224
- 57 L. Ed. 456
- 1913 U.S. LEXIS 2284
Syllabus
<p>iVhere the plaintiffs in an action under the Employers’ Liability Act are the sole beneficiaries under the statute, a general verdict in their favor, without instructions on this point, overcomes the objection of lack of capacity to sue.</p> <p>The Employers’ Liability Act extends to Porto Rico, as held in American Railroad Company v. Birch, 224 U. S. 547, and now held that the Safety Appliance Acts also extend to Porto Rico.</p> <p>While Porto Rico has not for all purposes been fully incorporated into the United States it is not foreign territory nor are its citizens aliens. Williams v. Gonzales, 192 U. S. 1. Its organization is in most essentials that of a Territory. Kopel v. Bingham, 211 U. S. 408.</p> <p>In view of the provisions of § 3 thereof, effect cannot be given to the Employers’ Liability Act of 1908 in Porto Rico unless the Safety Appliance Acts referred to in § 3 are in force there also.</p> <p>Under the Employers’ Liability Act of 1908 pecuniary damages only are recoverable and these do not include loss of society or companionship of a son to a parent. Michigan Central Railroad v. Vreeland, ante, p. 59.</p>
How courts have described this case
Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.
- holding that damages in a FELA action are limited “strictly to the financial loss thus sustained,” overturning a jury award for the loss of “society and companionship”
- holding that damages in a FELA action are limited “strictly to the financial loss thus sustained,” overturning a jury award for the loss of “society and companionship”
- the \organization (of Puerto Rico) is in most essentials that of those political entities known as Territories\
- the “organization [of Puerto Rico] is in most essentials that of those political entities known as Territories”
- \The damages recoverable are limited to such loss as results to them because they have been deprived of a reasonable expectation of pecuniary benefits by the wrongful death of the injured employee. The damage is limited strictly to the financial loss thus sustained.\
Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).
Judges: Holmes, Lurton
Read full opinion on CourtListenerSourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).
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