v.
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company
This cause was transferred to the Supreme Court by the Appellate Court with its recommendations.
Appellant instituted an action for damages for personal injuries. Two paragraphs of complaint were filed, one of which was withdrawn, and a demurrer was sustained to the other, from which ruling plaintiff appeals.
The material allegations of the complaint on the subject of the negligence claimed are that on March 27, 1905, plain [*544] tiff was an employe in the service of defendant, doing common labor as a section-hand in repairing and maintaining the railroad tracks of the defendant, and doing other varied services on a section about three miles long, extending in a northwesterly direction from the town of Waldron to Wheeler creek, which section, with the hand-cars, tools, implements and the employes were under the control and supervision, and subject to the orders, of an employe of said defendant, known as a section foreman, and that at said time this plaintiff and other section-hands laboring for defendant were under the control of, and subject to, the orders of the section foreman, who was engaged in the same common service and was a coemploye and fellow servant with the plaintiff and the other employes on the section; that the section foreman, during all the time, in performing the service of the corporation, was then and there acting in the place of, and performing the duties of, the corporation in that behalf, as its duly authorized agent; that upon said day, and for a long time prior thereto, plaintiff was under the absolute control, and subject to the orders and direction of, the section foreman in performing his work and labor upon the section; that upon the day aforesaid, and a long time prior thereto, defendant owned a machine commonly called a hand-car, which was then, and for a long time before said time had been, under the exclusive control of the section foreman, and which was used by defendant, under the supervision and control of the section foreman, for the purpose of transporting the section foreman, and the section-hands under his control and subject to his order, along the line of said section, for the purposes of performing the duties of the corporation, and also for the purpose of carrying tools, implements, lifting-jacks, cross-ties, l’ailroad iron, spikes, dirt, iron rails, gravel and other material, used in repairing and maintaining the roadbed of the corporation, and for performing other duties pertaining thereto; that the hand-car was a large and heavy [*545] machine, with iron wheels, and was propelled by an appliance that was operated by hand by the employes of the company; that the car was also equipped with a brake for checking and stopping it; that upon said day, plaintiff and other employes of defendant were unloading cross-ties at the town of Waldron, when the section foreman gave this plaintiff, and other employes working on said section, a special order to desist from that work, and to load upon said hand-ear their shovels, picks, lifting-jacks and other tools belonging to the defendant, and he specifically ordered plaintiff and the employes working upon said section (which order and direction he was authorized to give) to get upon the hand-car, and proceed with him to the west end of said section at Wheeler creek, to make repairs on defendant’s roadbed, by surfacing it; that while proceeding under said order and direction of the foreman, who had charge of and management of the brakes, and the management of the ear by virtue of the authority vested in him by the defendant to do so, and while traveling upon the hand-car, subject to the orders of the section foreman to perform the duties required of them, while said hand-car was running at the rate of twelve miles an hour on a down-grade over defendant’s road, and while it was being propelled by this plaintiff and the other* employes, under the order and direction of the section foreman who was then present upon the car, ordering and directing its movement, and who was the only person authorized to operate the brakes on the hand-car or who had any authority to direct the operating of the car, which was then heavily loaded with implements and tools, said section foreman carelessly and negligently, and with great force, without any notice to this plaintiff and the other employes on said car, suddenly applied the brakes to the car when there was no necessity therefor, at a point more than one mile from the destination, whereby the speed of the car was quickly, suddenly and violently reduced from twelve miles an hour to three miles an hour, by said section [*546] foreman, who was a large and heavy man, negligently and carelessly throwing his entire weight upon the brakes, by reason of which negligent conduct said plaintiff was thrown forward off the car to the ground upon the railway bed, and was greatly injured; that at the time plaintiff was so injured he was obeying the orders and directions of the section foreman, who then and there had competent authority in that behalf from this defendant to order and direct him, and the section foreman at the time was his superior in authority upon the section, and the section foreman, this plaintiff and the other employes upon the section at the time were engaged in the same common service in said department of the defendant as fellow servants performing the duties and labors of the corporation, and at the time of receiving the injury, and during the negligent conduct of the section foreman, and at all said times, plaintiff exercised due care and diligence to prevent said injury, and during all said time he was free from fault or negligence contributing in any degree to his injury.
Do these subdivisions undertake to create a liability from obedience to an order only, or also from the negligent act of one whose position is such that others are bound, from the fact of his position, to obey, or conform to his orders, irrespective of the thing about which he is acting, or the manner in which, or the circumstances under which it is done, from which injury arises? That is, Does liability arise from the fact of direct conformity to an order only, or does the negligent act of the one occupying a position which commands obedience create liability where the act is done during the time of conforming to the order?
[*548] It has been held that an order must be special, as contradistinguished from a general order as broad as the scope of the service and the employment, but these eases will be found to present somewhat exceptional facts. Indianapolis St. R. Co. v. Kane (1907), 169 Ind. 25; McElwaine-Richards Co. v. Wall (1906), 166 Ind. 267; Southern Ind. R. Co. v. Harrell (1904), 161 Ind. 689, 63 L. R. A. 460; Indiana Mfg. Co. v. Buskirk (1904), 32 Ind. App. 414; Grand Rapids, etc., R. Co. v. Pettit (1901), 27 Ind. App. 120.
It has also teen held that a special order may arise within the scope of the general employment, and that a general order is one under which the servant works at his discretion, without compulsion of an order. The order here to go upon the hand-ear was less broad than the general scope of the employment, under the allegations of the complaint, and the injury arose in conforming to it. McElwaine-Richards Co. v. Wall, supra; Southern Ind. R. Co. v. Harrell, supra; Indianapolis St. R. Co. v. Kane, supra.
It has been intimated, if not decided, that an order need not be negligent in itself in order to authorize a recovery, if injury arises while complying with it, by an act of one authorized to give it. Muncie Pulp Co. v. Davis (1904), 162 Ind. 558, 561; Indianapolis Gas Co. v. Shumack (1899), 23 Ind. App. 87.
It is alleged that the foreman had exclusive control over the hand-ear, and was the only person who had authority to control its movements and operation. The case is not like that of Thacker v. Chicago, etc., R. Co., supra, as to the first, second and third paragraphs of complaint, which were held bad because the order given by the foreman to stop the car was not negligent in itself, but executed by another in a negligent manner, while the fourth paragraph of complaint was held good because it alleged the giving of the order by the foreman to stop the car suddenly. Here the allegation is that the foreman himself did the negligent act. The ease falls squarely within the rule declared in the case of Thacker v. Chicago, etc., R. Co., supra, as to the fourth paragraph of complaint, provided the section foreman was acting for the master in the movement of the car in the discharge of the master’s duty, or a duty imposed upon the superior. The force to be imputed to the statute does not arise merely from the relation of fellow servants, for the act recognizes them as such, but attaches to the act of one who, for the time being, is acting for the master by virtue of his authority over his fellow servants in discharging the duties of the master. The condition of superior rank is not alone sufficient, it must be such that the servant is at the time acting in the place of, or discharging the duty of, the master, or one to whose order others must conform. Cleveland, etc., R. Co. v. Foland (1910), 174 Ind. 411.
So that the question is narrowed to the proposition whether the act of the section foreman in suddenly stopping the hand-ear was done in the performance of an order to' which appellee was bound to conform or whether he was at the time acting for, or-discharging the duty of, the master. The [*550] statute has not changed the fellow-servant rule, except as the fellow servant falls within some of the classifications out of which liability arises. The master ordinarily is not liable for the manner of handling appliances furnished, nor for the changing perils of the general employment, nor for a fellow servant’s negligence in the detail of the work unless the servant brings himself within the exception. Bedford Quarries Co. v. Bough (1907), 168 Ind. 671, 14 L. R. A. (N. S.) 418.
The statute declares the common law, and, under some conditions, does not increase the class of those who are at common law vice-principals, while in others it does increase the class whose acts give rise to liability. Fort Wayne Iron, etc., Co. v. Parsell (1907), 168 Ind. 223; Dill v. Marmon (1905), 164 Ind. 507, 69 L. R. A. 163; Thacker v. Chicago, etc., R. Co., supra; Island Coal Co. v. Swaggerty (1903), 159 Ind. 664.
[*553] A more serious question arises over the proposition as to whether under the employers’ liability act it can be said, as a matter of law, that appellant’s injury arose from the operation of a railroad train. If the ease under the facts pleaded can be said to fall within the statute, it must be because the running of the hand-car was the "operation” of a railroad, within the restricted meaning of the operation of trains, which the court has been constrained to give the act, in order to uphold it in any respect, and that is the real question here. The statutes of other states, and the construction given to them, do not materially aid us, owing to the difference in the statutes, and the different constitutional provisions. In Iowa, the language of the act is, ‘ ‘ connected with the use and operation of any railway on or about which they shall be employed.” Iowa Code 1907 §2071. See, also, Cahill v. Illinois Cent. R. Co. (1910), 148 Iowa 241, 125 N. W. 331, 28 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1121; Johnson v. Great Northern R. Co. (1908), 104 Minn. 444, 116 N. W. 936, 18 L. R. A. (N. S.) 477 and valuable notes; Hanson v. Northern Pac. R. Co. (1909), 108 Minn. 94, 121 N. W. 607, 22 L. R. A. (N. S.) 969 and note. In Kansas, the language is, "any employe of said company in consequence of any negligence of its agents, or by any mismanagement of its engineers or other employes.” Kansas Gen. Stat. 1909 §6999. In Minnesota, "by reason of the negligence of any other servant thereof.” The Texas statute restricts liability to those "engaged in the work of operating cars, locomotives or trains.” South Carolina extends the liability to employes the same as to those who are not employes, and to injuries resulting "from the negligence of a superior agent or officer, or of a person having a right to control or direct the services of a party injured, and also when the injury results from the negligence of a fellow servant employed in another department of labor from that of the party. injured, or of a fellow servant on another train of ears, or [*554] one injured in a different piece of work.” By the statute of Arkansas, vice-principals are defined as well as those who are fellow servants. The Mississippi constitution is similar to the South Carolina act, and the code follows it. Const, of Miss. Art. 7, §193.
The language of the Missouri statute is, “while engaged in the work of operating such railroad by reason of the negligence of any other agent or servant thereof,” and defines vice-principals and fellow servants. Mo. Annotated Stat. 1906 §2873.
The Montana act provides that the liability £br injury to a servant “acting under the orders of his superior, shall be the same * * * as if such servant or employe were a passenger. Montana Code §905.
The Ohio code declares who are superiors and who are fellow servants, and provides for liability in addition to the liability then existing, when arising from the negligence of the superior. 87 Ohio Laws p. 149, Bates, Annot. Stat. (2d ed.) §3365 - 22.
In the case of Chicago, etc., R. Co. v. Pontius (1895), 157 U. S. 209, 15 Sup. Ct. 585, 39 L. Ed. 675, the Supreme Court of the United States in construing a statute similar to that of Iowa, puts the decision upon the same ground as the case of McAunich v. Mississippi, etc., R. Co., supra.
A classification of railroads has been upheld on the same grounds in Minnesota. Lavallee v. St. Paul, etc., R. Co., supra, and Johnson v. St. Paul, etc., R. Co., supra.
A Mississippi statute was held invalid because of imposition of liabilities upon all corporations, irrespective of the nature of their business, which were not imposed on natural persons. Ballard v. Mississippi Cotton Oil Co., supra.
In Bedford Quarries Co. v. Bough, supra, the court was again forced, in order to sustain any part of the law, to apply the rule of distinction as to the character of the employment, and to hold that the act was invalid except as to corporations or persons operating railroads, because it imposed obligations upon them that were not imposed on private persons or copartnerships in the same business and under the same circumstances and conditions.
[*557]
To escape the constitutional objection as herein pointed out, we think the general doctrine stated in the cases of Indianapolis Traction, etc., Co. v. Kinney, supra, and Cleveland, etc., R. Co. v. Foland, supra, must be adhered to, and that each specific case must be governed by the question whether the service in which the employe is at the time engaged is such as subjects him to danger and injury from the operating of trains, whether actually engaged as an op [*558] erative on a train or not. Mobile, etc., R. Co. v. Turnipseed (1910), 219 U. S. 35, 31 Sup. Ct. 136, 55 L. Ed. 78, 32 L. R. A. (N. S.) 226.
This brings us to the consideration of the case of Louisville, etc., R. Co. v. Melton (1910), 218 U. S. 36, 30 Sup. Ct. 676, 54 L. Ed. 921. In the case of Tullis v. Lake Erie, etc., R. Co., supra, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of the employers’ liability act of this State, upon the ground that the construction put upon it by this court, as applying to the hazards connected with the operating of railways, was a reasonable classification, and held that it did not offend against the equal protection clause of the federal Constitution, and the construction of our own Constitution, and the acts arising under it, not presenting a federal question, are not the subject of review by that court. In the ease of Louisville, etc., R. Co. v. Melton, supra, the court uses language that though properly involved in the federal question, as to the equal protection and due process of law clauses of the 14th amendment, was not sufficiently guarded, in view of the rule in the case of Tullis v. Lake Erie, etc., R. Co., supra, and of the construction by this court of the act in its relation to our own Constitution. An examination of the case discloses that the sole question before the court was as to the constitutionality of the act as applied to the 14th amendment to the federal Constitution, and that this is so, appears not only from the opinion itself, but from views expressed in the case of Mobile, etc., R. Co. v. Turnipseed, supra. Incidentally, it will be noticed that while the question of the full faith and credit clause of the federal Constitution was sought to be invoked in that case, as binding upon the courts of Kentucky, by the construction placed upon our statute, the court expressly declines to consider the question, because it was in nowise presented to the Kentucky court of appeals, and it follows that it was not determined in that case, and the only question conferring jurisdiction upon the Supreme [*559] Court was the question involving the 14th amendment, which, as we understand it, was the only question before the court, in the discussion of which the court refers to the construction put upon the statute by this court as too restricted. Upon the theory that no federal question was involved in the construction of the statute by this court, that court dismissed, for want of jurisdiction, the appeals from the decisions of this court in the cases of Pittsburgh, etc., R. Co. v. Lightheiser (1907), 168 Ind. 438, Pittsburgh, etc., R. Co. v. Collins (1907), 168 Ind. 467, and Pittsburgh, etc., R. Co. v. Ross (1907), 169 Ind. 3, in each of which the question under our Constitution was directly involved. See Pittsburgh, etc., R. Co. v. Lightheiser (1908), 212 U. S. 560, 29 Sup. Ct. 688, 53 L. Ed. 652.
If, as seems to be the case, the Supreme Court in the case of Louisville, etc., R. Co. v. Melton, supra, regards the construction by this court as too restricted, with respect to the character of employes, as restricted to those in the train service, we agree with it, but we do not so understand the rule. We understand and hold that it should be limited to those who incur the hazard of, and injury by and from, the operating of trains, but we cannot go farther without offending the prohibition of our own Constitution against special and class legislation. To adopt the broad construction apparently given in the case of Louisville, etc., R. Co. v. Melton (1907), 127 Ky. 276, 105 S. W. 366, 110 S. W. 233, 112 S. W. 618, and followed on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, could but lead to the entire overthrow of the act, but it seems to us that there is a line of possible harmony in the eases, on principle, though it could not harmonize our views with the rule adopted by the court of appeals of Kentucky in the case just cited, as applying to a bridge carpenter, whose' injury was nowise caused by or connected with the hazard of operating trains, or different from that in any other business of a like character. The distinction lies, not from including employes in [*560] a class — owing to the impracticability, if not the impossibility, of enacting a statute that would in and of itself apply to every condition or character of modern employments it may be sought to apply it to — but in the application of the statute in a particular ease, irrespective of the general classification, to those whose employment for the time being exposes them to the hazards of, and injury from, the operating of trains.