Dice v. Akron, Canton & Youngstown R.R.

Facts

Dice (Plaintiff), a railroad fireman, suffered serious injury when the Akron (Defendant) train in which he rode jumped the tracks.  Plaintiff signed receipts for $924.63 in payments he received from Defendant.  Defendant represented that the receipts were nothing more than that, but actually they were a release of any liability on the part of Defendant.  Plaintiff brought an action under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act in an Ohio trial court.  He was awarded $25,000, but Defendant was given judgment in N.O.V. because of Dice’s (Plaintiff) “supine negligence” in failing to read the release.  The state court of appeals reversed the judgment N.O.V. on grounds that federal law controlled and that the verdict of the jury must stand because there was sufficient evidence of fraud.  The Ohio Supreme Court reversed that ruling on grounds that state, rather than federal law, controlled; that under that law, a man of ordinary intelligence who can read is bound by a release he signs; and under Ohio law, factual issues as to fraud were properly decided by the judge, not the jury.  Dice (Plaintiff) appealed.