Alabama Great Southern R.R. Co. v. Carroll

11 So. 803 (1892)

Facts

P is an employee of D. P is a citizen of Alabama. D is an Alabama corporation operating a railroad extending from Chattanooga in the State of Tennessee through Alabama to Meridian in the State of Mississippi. P is a brakeman on freight trains running from Birmingham, Alabama, to Meridian, Mississippi, under a contract which was made in the State of Alabama. P was injured when a link between two cars broke. The injury was suffered in the State of Mississippi. The link was in a defective condition when the train left Birmingham. P could not recover under the common law of Mississippi but could in Alabama under statutory law. It was shown to be the duty of certain employees of D stationed along its line to inspect the links attached to cars. The evidence affords ground for inference that there was a negligent omission on the part of such employees to perform this duty, or if performed, the failure to discover the defect in and to remove this link was the result of negligence. P sued in Alabama alleging that the employment contract rendered D subject to Alabama law even if P were working outside of the state. P got the verdict and D appealed.