O'Brien v. Cunard S.S. Co.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
154 Mass. 272, 28 N.E. 266 (1891)
- Written by Lauren Petersen, JD
Facts
O’Brien (plaintiff) was an emigrant passenger on a steamship on her way to Boston. Once in Boston, only individuals with a certificate of vaccination were allowed to go ashore without being detained in quarantine. Cunard Steamship Company (Cunard) (defendant) customarily vaccinated all emigrants who wished to be vaccinated and provided them with a certificate of vaccination. Notices in this regard were posted on the ship in various languages. Approximately two hundred female passengers, including O’Brien, assembled to be vaccinated. The women formed a line to wait for the surgeon to examine each of their arms to determine if they had been previously vaccinated. O’Brien’s turn came and she showed the surgeon her arm. The surgeon informed her that she needed to be vaccinated. In response, O'Brien informed the surgeon that she had been vaccinated previously but it did not leave a mark on her arm. The surgeon then told O’Brien that he should vaccinate her again. O’Brien never told the surgeon that she did not want to be vaccinated. Subsequently, O’Brien held her arm up and was vaccinated by the surgeon, and the surgeon gave O’Brien a certificate of vaccination. After the vaccination, O’Brien experienced complications at the site of the vaccination and blistering all over her body. O’Brien sued Cunard for assault and the trial court directed a verdict for Cunard. O’Brien appealed to the trial court’s ruling to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Knowlton, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 795,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.