MASTER-SERVANT-SUBROGATION-RIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES TO RECOVER FOR INJURIES TO A SOLDIER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENT ACT OF ANOTHER

Authors

John R. Dykema, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

On February 7, 1944, an enlisted soldier in the Army of the United States was injured in a traffic accident in Los Angeles, California, through the negligence of an agent of appellant; he was incapacitated for duty for a period of twenty-nine days. The United States paid his hospital expenses, and also his salary during this period, amounting to a total of $192.56. In March, 1944, the soldier, in return for three hundred dollars, executed a release to appellant "from any and all claims and demands" on account of the accident. The United States sued in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of California to recover the total of its payments during the soldier's incapacity, basing its claim on an extension of the common law action of a master for damages resulting from loss of services of a servant. The district court gave judgment for the United States. On appeal, held, reversed. The United States cannot recover for hospital expenses and salary of a soldier injured by the negligence of a third person. Standard Oil Company of California v. United States, (C.C.A. 9th, 1946) 153 F. (2d) 958.

Recommended Citation

John R. Dykema, MASTER-SERVANT-SUBROGATION-RIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES TO RECOVER FOR INJURIES TO A SOLDIER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENT ACT OF ANOTHER, 45 Mich. L. Rev. 110 (1946).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol45/iss1/12