Canadian Northern Railway v. Eggen
United States Supreme Court
252 U.S. 553, 40 S. Ct. 402, 64 L. Ed. 713 (1920)
- Written by Steven Pacht, JD
Facts
Eggen (plaintiff), a South Dakota resident, sued Canadian corporation Canadian Northern Railway (railway) (defendant) in federal court in Minnesota for injuries Eggen had suffered while working for the railway in Saskatchewan, Canada. Eggen’s claim was time-barred if Canadian law applied but was timely if Minnesota’s general statute of limitations applied. However, § 7709 of the Statutes of Minnesota provided that a suit that was untimely under the law of the jurisdiction where the cause of action arose also was time barred by Minnesota law unless the plaintiff was a Minnesota citizen who owned the cause of action since it accrued. Section 7709 had been in force since Minnesota became a state in 1858. Applying § 7709, the district court ruled that Eggen’s suit was time-barred because the cause of action had arisen in Canada and was untimely under Canadian law and Eggen was not a Minnesota citizen. The court of appeals reversed, holding that § 7709 was unconstitutional because it discriminated against non-Minnesota citizens. The railway appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Clarke, J.)
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