Geyer v. United States Express Co.
Geyer v. United States Express Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Each of the parties took an appeal from the judgment of the court below and these appeals were heard together in this court. We will, therefore, consider the respective contentions of the parties and dispose of them in one opinion. The plaintiff entered into a contract with the defendant for the transportation by the latter of a carload of horses from Athens, Ohio, to Hatfield, Pa. The contract was what is known as a “Limited Liability Live Stock Contract” which contained a tariff of charges proportioned to the value of the animals to be transported as declared by the shipper. A minimum rate for horses not exceeding $100 in value was given, with an ascending scale for animals the value of which was declared by the shipper to exceed $100. The horses shipped by the plaintiff were valued by him in the contract at $100 each and the rate of transportation fixed accordingly. One of the horses fell from the car in the state of West Virginia because of the defective condition of the car. This action was brought to recover the price of the horse which the plaintiff claimed would have been $250 or $300 at Hatfield. The court directed a verdict for the plaintiff for $100, the value of the horse as declared by the plaintiff at the point of shipment. It appearing in the case that the loss occurred in West Virginia the learned trial judge was of the opinion that whether the liability of the defendant arose in Ohio or in West Virginia the limitation of liability in the shipping contract was binding on the plaintiff, as the liability of the defendant was to be determined either according to the law of Ohio or of West Virginia. It is not disputed that by the law of Ohio such limited liability contract is sustained and the same is true of the law of West Virginia even though the loss may be the result of negligence on the part of the carrier, provided the negligence be not gross, wanton or willful: Zouch v. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co., 36 W. Va. 524; Bosley v. Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co., 54 W. Va. 563. The negligent breach of the contract having occurred in West
The defendant admits its liability by the terms of the contract but contends that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover anything because of the fact that there was an undervaluation of the horse, by means of which a lower charge for transportation was obtained than if the true value had been given, in violation of the Interstate Commerce Act. It is not shown or alleged, however, that the plaintiff obtained or intended to obtain a preference or advantage over other shippers or that he acquired a special rate. According to the classified schedule all horses are rated at a value of $100 unless a greater valuation is fixed by the owner, and contracts of this character have been sustained in numerous cases where not forbidden by considerations of public policy, as in Pennslyvania in the case of negligence. Compensation for carriage is based on value, and for the purpose of transportation
The judgment is, therefore, affirmed.
Reference
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- Geyer v. United States Express Company
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- Syllabus
- Common carriers — Contract—Limitation of the amount of liability— Negligence — Conflict of laws. 1. Where a contract of a common carrier containing a stipulation limiting liability for negligence is made in one state, but with a view to its performance by transportation through or into one or more other states, the contract is to be construed in accordance with the law of the state where an injury, arising from negligence, occurs. 2. Where a shipping contract for a horse executed in Ohio, limits the liability of the carrier to an amount stated, and the horse is killed in the state of West Virginia, through the negligence of the carrier, which was not gross, wanton or willful, the contract will be construed in accordance with the law of West Virginia, where such a limitation is valid provided the negligence which causes the loss be not gross, wanton or willful. 3. A common carrier cannot be charged with gross, wanton or willful negligence in transporting a horse in a car the door of which was insecurely fastened, where it appears that the agent of the carrier endeavored to make the door secure by driving three twenty penny nails about halfway into it and bending them over, and that he did this in the presence of the owner of the horse, without objection on the latter’s part to this method of fastening. 4. Where a carrier schedules a minimum rate for horses not exceeding $100 in value, and a shipper values a horse at $100, and the rate of transportation is fixed accordingly, the carrier cannot after the horse has been lost, and the shipper has sued for an amount in excess of that stated in the contract, claim that the shipper was not entitled to recover anything because of his undervaluation of the horse. In such a case the courts will construe the liability of the carrier according to the agreed value of the property.