ANNA E. STEWART v. GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY

Minnesota Supreme Court1908-01-24No. Nos. 15,333—(129)

103 Minn. 156

Summary · law.co

Holding. The court reversed the lower court's order overruling the demurrer, holding that a wrongful death complaint arising from events in a foreign state must plead and prove both that the foreign state's statute imposes liability on the defendant and that it confers the right to maintain suit on the particular plaintiff.

Anna E. Stewart, as administrator of a deceased person's estate, brought a wrongful death action against a railroad company for a death occurring in North Dakota. The defendant challenged the complaint for failing to adequately state a cause of action, and the lower court overruled that challenge. The case presents a question about what must be pleaded when seeking damages in one state for a death that occurred in another state.

At common law, no right of action existed for wrongful death; such rights arise only through legislation. When a plaintiff seeks to recover in one state for a death occurring in another, they must plead and prove not only that the foreign state's statute creates liability for the defendant, but also that it specifically grants the plaintiff (or the particular class to which the plaintiff belongs) the right to bring suit. The complaint here alleged only the portion of North Dakota's statute establishing the defendant's liability but failed to plead what North Dakota law specified regarding who could recover damages. Because Minnesota law cannot be presumed to match North Dakota's statute in every respect, and because the plaintiff did not establish her right to sue under North Dakota law, the complaint was defective.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

Whether wrongful death actions require statutory authority to exist
What must be pleaded when suing in one state for a death occurring in another state
Whether liability of the defendant is sufficient without establishing the plaintiff's right to sue under foreign law

Procedural posture

The defendant demurred to the complaint for failing to state sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action, and the appeal was from an order overruling the demurrer.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

majority opinion

ELIjIOTT, j.

This is an action brought by Anna E. Stewart, as administratrix of the estate of Toby R. Irwin, deceased, against the Great Northern Railway Company, to recover damages for the wrongful killing of Toby R. Irwin by the defendant in the state of North Dakota. The defendant demurred to the complaint on the ground that it does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and the appeal is from an order overruling the demurrer. The defect in the complaint is the failure to plead any statute of North Dakota which confers the right to maintain this action upon the administratrix of the deceased. ■

At common law no liability existed for wrongfully causing the death of a person, and none exists at present unless created by statute. Such statutes have been adopted in nearly all the states, including Minnesota. The presumption that the common law is the same in a sister state as in this state does not extend to the statutory law. Therefore, before a person can recover damages in this state for the wrongful killing of a person in a foreign state, he must plead and prove the existence •of a statute of that state which creates a liability and also confers upon him the right to enforce that liability. The right of the particular person to maintain the action is as essential as the liability of the defendant. Until the legislature has declared who shall bring the statutory action and who shall be the beneficiary thereof, the common law has not been changed to such an extent as to enable an action to be maintained. Woodward v. Michigan, 10 Oh. St. 121; Usher v. West Jersey Ry. Co., 126 Pa. St. 206, 17 Atl. 597, 4 L. R. A. 261, 12 Am. St. 863; McGinnis v. Missouri, 174 Mo. 225, 73 S. W. 586, 97 Am. St. 553; Lee v. Missouri, 195 Mo. 400, 92 S. W. 614. The foreign statute must be pleaded, and the remedy prescribed by it must be pursued. Whitlow v. Nashville, 114 Tenn. 344, 84 S. W. 618, 68 L. R. A. 503. See Powell v. Great Northern Ry. Co., 102 Minn. 448, 113 N. W. 1017.

This complaint alleges that the cause of action arose in North Dakota, and pleads that portion only of the statute of North Dakota which provides that “whenever the death of a person shall be caused by a wrongful act, neglect or default, and the act, neglect or default is such as would, if death had not ensued, have entitled the party injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, then and in every such case the person who, or the corporation or company which, would have been liable if death had not ensued, shall be liable to an action for damages notwithstanding the death of the person injured, and although the death shall have been caused under such circumstances as amount in law to felony.” This creates a liability on the part of the defendant, but does not confer the right to recover the damages upon this plaintiff. As it cannot be presumed that the statute of North Dakota is the same as that of Minnesota, the complaint is defective, and the demurrer should have been sustained.

The order is therefore reversed.