{"ID":59428,"name":"Herdman v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/1956\/46","view_count":0,"docket_number":"46","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"Virgil Herdman","second_party":"Pennsylvania Railroad Company","timeline":[{"event":"Argued","dates":[-412624800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/47213"},{"event":"Decided","dates":[-405453600],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/47214"},{"event":"Granted","dates":[-432064800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/53522"}],"lower_court":{"ID":11,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/11"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EOn February 1, 1951, Virgil Herdman, a train conductor, was in charge of a freight train traveling from Indiana to Ohio. While passing through Dayton, Ohio, the train braked abruptly to avoid hitting a car stopped on a railroad crossing. Herdman fell and was injured as the train came to a stop.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHerdman sued the railroad company for negligence and claimed that the company was responsible for his fall under the doctrine of \u003Ci\u003Eres ipsa loquitur\u003C\/i\u003E. Courts typically apply this doctrine when negligence can be inferred, without actual direct evidence, from the very nature of the accident. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio ruled in favor of the railroad on the basis that Herdman did not provide enough facts to support his negligence claim, even under the \u003Ci\u003Eres ipsa loquitur\u003C\/i\u003E doctrine. Herdman appealed and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the lower court\u2019s decision.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EDid Herdman present enough evidence to go to trial for a negligence claim under the doctrine of \u003Ci\u003Eres ipsa loquitur\u003C\/i\u003E?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003ENo. In an 8-1 decision by Justice William J. Brennan, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court\u2019s decision. To effectively present a negligence claim under \u003Ci\u003Eres ipsa loquitur\u003C\/i\u003E Herdman should have shown that sudden stops, like the one that caused his injury, are unusual or extraordinary. Herdman failed to present any such evidence. Justice Felix Frankfurter dissented, stating that the Court should not grant certiorari just to reevaluate the facts of certain cases.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":31905,"name":"Joseph P. 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