Burnett v. Pennsylvania Railroad

Citations

• 176 Pa. 45
• 34 A. 972
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 1038

Syllabus

<p>-Place of contracting and placq Pailroads — Contract—Conflict of laws of performance — Negligence—-Free pass. I</p> <p>Generally as to its formalities and its interpretation, obligation and effect, a contract is governed by the laws of the place where it is made, and if it is valid there it is valid everywhere; but the presumption is that parties enter into a contract with reference to the laws of the place of performance, and unless it appears that the intention was otherwise those laws determine the mode of fulfillment and obligation and the measure of liability for its breach; therefore when a contract is made in one state or country to be pei’formed in another state or country its validity and effect are to be determined by the laws of the place of performance.</p> <p>In an action by an employee of a railroad company against his employer to x'ecover damages for pex'sonal injuries, it appeared that the defendant gave the plaintiff two passes, one from Trenton to Philadelphia, the terms of which did not appear in evidence, the other an employee’s trip pass from Philadelphia to Elmira, by tire terms of which he assumed all risks of accident. He was injured at Hamsburg, Pa., through the admitted negligence of the defendant’s employees. By the law of New Jei’sey a contract by which the railroad company is relieved from liability in consideration of free transportation is valid. In Pennsylvania such a contract will not relieve a railroad company from responsibility for negligence. Held, that the contract was governed by the law of Pennsylvania, and that plaintiff was entitled to recover.</p>