Case Analysis

Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. (1928) Citation: ​Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. Court Appeals, May 29th, 1928 Facts: ​Two men were running toward the train to hop on while holding packages. One man got on successfully, while the other lost his balance. Workers that worked on the railroad helped him regain balance, but the man dropped his package which contained fireworks. It then caused an explosion of scales on the train platform, which happened to injure Helen Palsgraf who was waiting by the railroad for the train. Issue: ​The issue presented is whether or not Long Island Railroad Co. is responsible for the explosion. Considering their employees were the ones that helped the man, but might have caused him to drop his package which exploded. Decision: ​The decision in the end was that Long Island Railroad Co. is not responsible for the explosion. Reason: ​The reason is that the employees were not aware of what was in the man’s package. If they had known there were explosives inside, then they would have been more cautious while helping the man.