Tompkins was walking along the railroad tracks in Pennsylvania when he was hit by an open railcar door. However, in a likely instance of forum shopping, ...

The liability of a railroad company for injury caused by negligent operation of its train to a pedestrian on a much-used, beaten path on its right-of-way along ...

The case went to trial, where the jury found Erie Railroad liable for Tompkins's injuries and awarded him $30,000 in damages ($658,705 in 2023). Erie ... Case history · Supreme Court decision · Aftermath

In 1842, a diversity case regarding a very ordinary commercial dispute produced a landmark Supreme Court decision with far-reaching implications for the ...

Tompkins, a citizen of Pennsylvania, was injured on a dark night by a passing freight train of the Erie Railroad Company while walking along its right of way.

Erie involves the question of what “law” applies to a case in “diversity jurisdiction,” that is, in a federal court case involving citizens of different states.

Brief Fact Summary. Defendant Harry Tompkins, was injured by a freight car of Plaintiff Erie Railroad while in Hughestown, Pennsylvania.

Tompkins sued Erie, a New York company, for negligence in New York federal court. At trial, Erie argued that Tompkins was a trespasser.

Erie v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938) is a cornerstone of American jurisprudence. The Erie doctrine remains one of the foundational concepts of civil ...

Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938) overruled Swift v. Tyson (1842), a decision that construed Section 34 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the so-called Rules ...