Palsgraph vs Long Island PDF

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Brennan Garcia Section 6

Palsgraf v. Long Island R. Co 1. Citation: 248 N.Y. 339 (N.Y. 1928) 2. Facts: Ticket-holding passenger Helen Palsgraf (plaintiff) was standing on a platform of Long Island Railroad Company (defendant) waiting to board a train. Two men then tried to hurry onto a train that was leaving when one of the men nearly fell. Railroad employees attempted to help him get on the train when in the process, the man dropped his package onto the railroad tracks. The package happened to contain fireworks which then exploded on contact with the floor. In result, the explosion destroyed part of the platform causing for scales to fall which then struck the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit for injuries due to the defendant's alleged negligence. The trial court ruled in her favor and the Appellate Division affirmed this decision, however the Court of Appeals of New York reversed. 3. Issue: What constitutes negligence and how should a court determine whether a duty of care is owed to a party? 4. Decision: The court reversed the appellate court judgment and dismissed the complaint. A defendant owes a duty of care only to those who are in the reasonably foreseeable zone of danger 5. Reason: The plaintiff must show that some wrong was done to herself, that there was a violation of her own rights, not merely a wrong done to someone else. There was no indication that the package contained fireworks, and if dropped, would cause an explosion.The Court explained that negligence is not actionable unless it involves the invasion of a legally protected interest--the violation of a right, which in this case was claimed to be the right to be protected against interference with one's bodily security. Therefore, the guards were not negligent in relation to the Plaintiff, who was standing far away when the package was dropped. In order to support a finding in negligence, it must be proved that the defendant owed the plaintiff some duty of care. The duty of care only extends in this situation only as far as a reasonable person could foresee....