Schulz v. Pennsylvania Railroad

The petitioner brought this suit for damages under the Jones Act, 1 alleging that her husband while employed by the respondent railroad as a tug fireman was drowned because of the negligent failure of respondent to provide him with a safe place to work. The District Judge directed the jury to return a verdict for the defendant, stating, “There is some evidence of negligence, and there is an accidental death. But there is not a shred of evidence connecting the two.” The Court of Appeals affirmed, saying that while the evidence was “perhaps at most only doubtfully sufficient to present a jury…