Court Opinion

ID: 9692393
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 15:53:13.628437+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:34.328394
License: Public Domain

Boslaugh, J.,
dissenting in part.
I dissent from that part of the majority opinion which vacates the summary judgment for the de*210fendant on the cause of action for lost profits.
The petition alleged the defendant had violated “its statutory and contractual duties” to keep the sidetrack “servicing plaintiffs place of business” in repair. There was no allegation that the public or any person other than the plaintiff had been injured by the defendant’s failure to repair the sidetrack. There was no issue as to whether the defendant had failed to provide adequate and suitable sidetracks for public use in Humphrey, Nebraska.
The plaintiff’s right to recover depended upon proof that the defendant had breached a duty which it owed to the plaintiff. Unless the plaintiff could establish that the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff to maintain the sidetrack in good repair, the plaintiff could not recover damages resulting from the failure to repair the sidetrack. In my opinion the primary issue here was whether the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff to repair the sidetrack.
The petition alleged that the defendant had both a contractual duty and a statutory duty to the plaintiff to repair the sidetrack. The record shows conclusively that the defendant had no contractual duty to repair the sidetrack.
To establish a statutory duty the plaintiff relied upon section 74-503, R. R. S. 1943, which requires railroads operating in Nebraska to “afford reasonable and equal terms, service, facilities and accommodations” to all shippers. The railroads, however, are not required to furnish such facilities free of cost to the shippers. In Missouri Pacific Ry. Co. v. Nebraska, 217 U. S. 196, 30 S. Ct. 461, 54 L. Ed. 727, a statute requiring railroads to construct and maintain sidetracks at their expense to serve elevators constructed on the right-of-way was held invalid.
Sections 74-504 and 74-508, R. R. S. 1943, provide a remedy for shippers who want a sidetrack constructed and maintained on the right-of-way adjacent to and opposite an industry. Under these sec*211tions the shipper may be required to share in the cost of constructing and maintaining the sidetrack. The plaintiff did not attempt to proceed under these sections.
I would affirm the summary judgment for the defendant on the cause of action for lost profits.
Spencer, J., joins in this dissent.