Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
E100412
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. is a landmark 1928 New York Court of Appeals case, authored by Judge Benjamin Cardozo, that established the modern American doctrine of proximate cause and foreseeability in negligence law.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. canonical | 2 |
| Palsgraf | 1 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
court case
ⓘ
landmark case ⓘ negligence case ⓘ tort law case ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
negligence
ⓘ
tort law ⓘ |
| chiefJudgeAtTime |
Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo
ⓘ
surface form:
Benjamin N. Cardozo
|
| citation |
162 N.E. 99
ⓘ
248 N.Y. 339 ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | New York Court of Appeals ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1928-05-29 ⓘ |
| decisionYear | 1928 ⓘ |
| defendant |
Long Island Rail Road
ⓘ
surface form:
Long Island Railroad Company
|
| dissentingOpinionBy | William S. Andrews ⓘ |
| dissentingView | Liability should be based on whether the defendant’s act was a substantial factor in producing the injury, not on foreseeability of the particular plaintiff ⓘ |
| factSummary | Railroad guards helped a passenger board a moving train, causing a package of fireworks to fall, explode, and knock down scales that injured the plaintiff ⓘ |
| frequentlyCitedIn | U.S. tort law casebooks ⓘ |
| fullName | Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. self-link ⓘ |
| holding | The railroad owed no duty of care to the plaintiff with respect to the unforeseeable explosion and resulting injuries ⓘ |
| influenced |
American negligence law
ⓘ
Restatement (Second) of Torts ⓘ
surface form:
Restatement (Second) of Torts approach to duty and proximate cause
|
| issue | Whether the defendant railroad owed a duty of care to the plaintiff for injuries resulting from an unforeseeable chain of events ⓘ |
| judgeAuthoringMajorityOpinion |
Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo
ⓘ
surface form:
Benjamin N. Cardozo
|
| jurisdiction | New York ⓘ |
| keyConcept |
foreseeable plaintiff
ⓘ
proximate cause as limitation on liability ⓘ relational duty of care ⓘ zone of danger ⓘ |
| languageOfDecision | English ⓘ |
| legalDoctrine |
foreseeability
ⓘ
proximate cause ⓘ |
| legalPrincipleEstablished | duty of care is owed only to those in the reasonably foreseeable zone of danger ⓘ |
| legalSignificance |
Clarified distinction between duty and proximate cause in negligence analysis
ⓘ
Established foreseeability as a central test for duty in negligence ⓘ |
| locationOfIncident | Long Island Railroad station in New York ⓘ |
| majorityHolding | Negligence is not actionable unless it involves the invasion of a legally protected interest of the plaintiff within the range of apprehension ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy |
Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo
ⓘ
surface form:
Benjamin N. Cardozo
|
| partyTypeDefendant | railroad company ⓘ |
| partyTypePlaintiff | individual ⓘ |
| plaintiff | Helen Palsgraf ⓘ |
| proceduralPosture | Appeal from a judgment in favor of the plaintiff ⓘ |
| remedy | Complaint dismissed ⓘ |
| resultOnAppeal | Judgment for the plaintiff was reversed ⓘ |
| shortName |
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Palsgraf
|
| stateCourt | New York ⓘ |
| taughtIn | first-year law school torts courses in the United States ⓘ |
| timePeriodOfIncident | early 1920s ⓘ |
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Benjamin N. Cardozo
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
→
shortName
→
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Palsgraf