- Thanks to CuriosityStream for keeping Legal Eagle in the air. By clicking the link in the description, you'll also get Nebula for free, the streaming platform made
by and for creators like me. A platform guard rushes to give him a helpful push from behind. That push ensures that he
makes it onto the train, but it also knocks the
box out of his arms. So, what's in the box? What's in the box, Harry? (tense music)
(woman screams) When are you responsible for an accident? Imagine you're driving along
and you stop at a red light. A car then rear-ends you and sends you flying into the car in front of you. Who's responsible? If you hadn't been there, there wouldn't have been an accident. But does that put you on
the hook, legally speaking? If you knock down one domino, are you responsible for all
of the other dominoes falling? When a butterfly flaps its wings, the effects echo outward
like ripples on a pond, and no one knows where
the effects will stop. At what point, though, do we say that the butterfly caused the harm? At what point do we say
that the downstream ripples are too attenuated to
pin it on the butterfly? When someone's sloppy
mistake puts your life and limb at risk, who must pay? What duty do we owe each other? That's the question that we must answer in The Case of Poor Mrs. Palsgraf, she never saw it coming.
(train horn honks) Submitted for your adjudication, our story begins innocently enough, with a family trip to the beach. The year is 1924, the
place, Brooklyn, New York. On a hot and muggy August morning, Helen Palsgraf prepares
to take her two daughters on a long-awaited trip to Rockaway Beach. The girls have been on
their very best behavior for weeks, helping around the house, working tirelessly at their jobs in the nearby clothing factory. They diligently counted
down the days to today. They earned this break
from the tiresome monotony of the daily grind. Mrs. Palsgraf too worked hard
to have this rare day off. She works two full-time jobs
doing back-breaking work both as a housekeeper and as a janitor. She rarely sleeps, instead
painstakingly saving every penny earned to
scrape just enough together to be able to afford the train fare and take the girls out for one summer day. It was meant to be a respite, a breath of fresh air in every sense. (thunder cracks) But fate had other plans. Having meticulously packed their bags, the Palsgraf family slowly makes the trek over to the Atlantic Avenue train station. At the ticket booth, Mrs.
Palsgraf pauses briefly, considering the expense of the tickets. She looks down at her children's filthy but beaming faces, their
smiles are well worth it. She dutifully hands over
her hard-earned wages and purchases three tickets
on the Long Island Railroad. Destination, Rockaway Beach.
(cash register dings) The women make their way
down to the train platform. As they patiently stand
in the sweltering heat waiting for their train to arrive, they daydream about the sand, the surf, and the fresh air that await them. Little did they know,
(dramatic music) they would never reach their destination. (screaming) Meanwhile, several blocks away, a man is abruptly awoken
by the thump, thump, thump of his landlord's fist
pounding on his door. We'll call this man Hot Mess Harry. Harry starts this morning
like most mornings, running two steps
behind, he has overslept. He is three months late on the rent and knows that his landlord
is inching ever-closer to fulfilling his frequent promise to break his legs if he doesn't
come up with the money soon, and just in case he has
momentarily forgotten, the landlord reiterates the point, barking through the door to come out and that he knows he's in there. Harry scoops up his rumpled clothes from off the floor and throws them on as quickly and quietly as possible. He hops around the room,
shoving his feet into his shoes while trying to simultaneously
button his shirt. He turns, raises the bedroom window, and prepares to sneak
out down the fire escape. But he pauses and doubles
back to grab a large box before slinking out through the back. Box in hand, Harry now
tears down the street and into the train station, leaving a path of chaos and
destruction in his wake. (man yells) Come hell or high water, he
has to make it to the train. But Harry pauses for a moment
at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the train platform, panting. He swears to himself,
wishing that he weren't being slowed down by the weight
of this inconvenient parcel. It's heavy, but he's got to
get rid of that damn box. Just then, he catches
a glimpse of the train. It's already here, he picks up the pace, throwing caution and innocent
bystanders into the wind as he sprints up the stairs. The train crew is making
their final preparations to leave the the station,
this is gonna be a close one. He reaches for the train just
as the doors begin closing. The crew pity him, but time
and the Long Island Railroad wait for no man.
(man yells) Harry makes a desperate leap
onto the now-moving train. A platform guard rushes to give him a helpful push from behind. That push ensures that he
makes it onto the train, but it also knocks the
box out of his arms. So, what's in the box? What's in the box, Harry? Fireworks, Legal Eagles, the
box is chock full of fireworks, and what happens next
depends on who you ask. Scenario A, in the first scenario, the train employee's push knocks the box out of Harry's arms and into the air. For a moment, it seems to
float, suspended in midair, but then it begins its
inevitable descent downward, taking an unlucky bounce off
the very edge of the platform. It ricochets off and bounces again, this time off the side of the train itself and then continues bobbling its way down onto the train track cavity itself, where it eventually settles into its final resting place, lodged
between the two track beams, inches from the train wheels, which have begun to
move out of the station. At this point, it's worth
noting a piece of metal on the undercarriage
of the train's caboose, which loosened over the
years of wear and tear, juts out ever so slightly to one side, perfectly aligned on a
collision course with the box. This metal occasionally
scrapes against the tracks, creating a burst of screeching
sparks when it does, and just as the caboose
passes near the box, the metal meets the track again. The ensuing sparks set off
just one firework at first. (firework booms) Then another, until like popcorn, all of the fireworks go
off in rapid succession. The explosion causes a stampede as panicked passengers push and shove their way towards the exits. Luggage is left behind, knocked over, burst open, and trampled on. Undershirts, nightgowns, toiletries are strewn about the floor. People shout, trying to
find their loved ones in the thick, smoky fog. In the middle of it all, Mrs. Palsgraf blindly
searches for her way out. She cannot see the man fumbling past her, who himself unable to see,
knocks into an enormous floor scale at just the right angle to cause the scale to topple over, and it comes down right on
top of poor Mrs. Palsgraf. That's right, folks, an
industrial, heavy brass, guess-your-weight old-timey scale, though not so old-timey for Mrs. Palsgraf. The scale is coin-operated
and those coins now begin to slowly trickle out, plunking
her right on top of her head as it slowly crushes her with
all of its mighty weight. Or the second scenario,
maybe it happened like this. The train employee's push knocks the box out of Harry's arms. The box, a veritable powder
keg immediately explodes upon impact with the ground. The force of the explosion is so powerful that it knocks the scale
next to Mrs. Palsgraf over and it falls right on top of
her with its mighty weight. Either way, these particular
facts are unimportant. The point is that Mrs.
Palsgraf is badly hurt. Her daughters rush to her aid. Still pinned under the
crushing weight of the scale, she meekly tells them
that she's very sorry, but she doesn't think she'll be able to join them at the beach today. She's in shock and denial, unable to yet comprehend that her life has been irrevocably changed. She suffers bruises all over her body and experiences chronic headaches. Doctors will later diagnose
her with traumatic hysteria. She develops a stammer
and becomes depressed. She is no longer able to work and must give up both of her jobs. She requires expensive medicines
and round-the-clock care. Her bones eventually heal, but Mrs. Palsgraf is never quite the same. When she is lucid enough
to recount the events of that fateful August day, and helplessly watch the
medical bills pile up, she is above all else, angry. But this is America,
and someone has to pay for what happened to her.
(cash register dings) But what about Hot Mess Harry? While clearly he's at fault here and should be liable for the damages, that's not what this story is about. Harry never paid Mrs. Palsgraf
a dime for two reasons. One, he didn't have any money, and two, he was never
seen or heard from again. And even if Mrs. Palsgraf
were able to track him down and he were served with a lawsuit, he would have been useless to her. He's what we call judgment-proof, meaning that he wouldn't
have had the funds to cover a judgment
against him in any case. This is often a sad
reality about litigation, and with nowhere else to turn, Mrs. Palsgraf sues the Long
Island Railroad Company. She claims that the railroad was negligent when its employee pushed
Harry onto the train, and although Harry is primarily at fault, she was also harmed by the negligence of the railroad company. At trial, a jury awards
her $6,000 in damages, around $900,000 by today's standards, but the railroad appeals. Mrs. Palsgraf wins again. And finally, the case makes
its way all the way up to New York's highest
court, the court of appeals. The issue on the table, was the Long Island
Railroad Company negligent towards Mrs. Palsgraf? Could they have foreseen that someone would bring fireworks on the train? In other words, what
exactly is negligence? We now turn to Albany, where courtroom proceedings
are just getting underway. (typewriter clicks)
(tense music) - [Judge] This court has had
the opportunity to review the record, are counselors
really for oral argument? - [William] Yes, your Honor,
William McNamara representing the appellants, the Long
Island Railroad Company. - [Matthew] Matthew Wood, sir, representing the appellee,
Mrs. Helen Palsgraf. - [Judge] Okay then
gentlemen, let's get started. - [William] Thank you and
may it please the court, your Honors, my client,
the Long Island Railroad, has been accused of negligence
toward Helen Palsgraf when one of its employees helped
a passenger onto his train by giving him a supportive nudge aboard. There was no negligence here. How could we possibly expect that employee to know that the box
in the passenger's arms was packed with fireworks? There was no signage or any
other sort of indication that the box contained dangerous contents. There was simply no way
for a reasonable person to know that if this
particular box were dropped, it would explode; my
client was not negligent. On the contrary, the employee
was doing the right thing. Don't we want to live in a society in which people feel
able to help each other, rather than second guess
every move they make in fear of future liability? The passenger is the
only one to blame here. - [Matthew] Your Honors, the railroad was clearly negligent here. The employee pushed the man
onto the train far too hard. His carelessness forced the
passenger to drop the box, which directly caused the explosion that has devastated poor Mrs. Palsgraf. If not for the railroad's actions, Mrs. Palsgraf would not have been injured. It's a logical certainty. - [Judge] Mr. McNamara, let's assume that the railroad employee was
in fact negligent here with regard to the passenger. Would Mrs. Palsgraf be
entitled to damages? - [William] Your Honors, even if we accept that there could have been negligence in how the employee helped
the passenger board the train, that remains a matter exclusively between the passenger and my client. Mrs. Palsgraf just has
nothing to do with it. - [Matthew] Your Honors, my client has everything to do with it. She did everything right
that fateful August day. She was a paying customer
on the Long Island Railroad who obeyed all the rules,
minded her business, and waited exactly where
the railroad told her. - [Judge] And what
exactly would you suggest that the railroad owes to
paying customers, counselor? - [Matthew] The railroad
owes Mrs. Palsgraf and all of its customers a duty of care, and it breached that duty
when its employee's negligence created an unsafe environment, causing my client's harrowing injury. If an injury can be traced
back to a wrongful act and there are no intervening events, that is sufficient to establish liability. - [William] But if we hold
the railroad negligent to Mrs. Palsgraf, where
do we draw the line? We simply cannot hold
my client responsible for the consequences of all actions, no matter how extraordinary or bizarre, that impact customers of the railroad. The duty of care must be limited to those who are reasonably foreseeable
under the circumstances. - [Judge] Counselor, don't you think that Mrs. Palsgraf's injuries
were reasonably foreseeable? - [William] Though regrettable, her injures were not foreseeable. Who could know that the box
would explode upon falling, and that that explosion
would knock over a scale all the way across the platform, and that scale would somehow
topple on top of her? The chain of events here is too tenuous. - [Matthew] But my client
was foreseeable, your Honor, she was in the zone of foreseeable danger. Mrs. Palsgraf's close physical proximity to the careless act matters here. She was waiting on the designated platform for her imminent train, about 10 feet from the
site of the explosion. She was clearly at risk
of direct physical impact. - [Judge] Mr. McNamara,
what do you say to that? - [William] Even if we accept
the zone of danger test, Mrs. Palsgraf was still too
far away from the explosion to have a successful negligence
claim under that standard. It is definitely not
reasonably foreseeable that a scale all the way on
the other end of the station could fall on top of her as a result of one employee's careless push. There are just too many variables in between the two occurrences. - [Judge] Thank you, gentlemen,
this matter is adjourned. (typewriter clicks) (tense music) - Chief judge and future
Supreme Court Justice Cardozo wrote the decision of the
New York court of appeals and what is considered by
many to be the single most influential torts case in all
of American jurisprudence. Do you have what it takes to think like a future Supreme Court justice? Pause this video, put on
your favorite black robe, and grab your gavel and
let me know in the comments how you think this case
was decided, I'll wait. (typewriter clicks)
(tense music) Cardozo sided with the
railroad company and found that they did not have a duty
of care to Mrs. Palsgraf. Her injuries were not
reasonably foreseeable because the explosive box
didn't appear to be dangerous and a reasonable person
would not have foreseen that a scale would topple
on top of Mrs. Palsgraf as a result of the box
falling and exploding. Not only was her judgment reversed, but Mrs. Palsgraf actually ended up owing the Long Island Railroad Company $560 to cover their attorney's fees, the equivalent of a
year's worth of her wages. This case is probably the most famous American tort case in
all of jurisprudence. Its legacy, however, has eroded over time. The dissent in this case found that because there was little
to no gap in time or space between the train employee's negligence and Mrs. Palsgraf's
injuries, the injuries were a natural consequence of the
series of events that followed. And while some states still
follow Cardozo's approach and find no liability for
an unforeseeable plaintiff, most states now agree with the dissent and focus on the proximity
in time and space to a negligence in a plaintiff's injuries. This true crime series
is a huge experiment for this channel, I hope you like it because it takes about 10 times longer than all of my other normal videos. This is a huge experiment
because sometimes publishing on YouTube is risky. This video, in fact,
probably got demonetized, which is why my creator
friends and I teamed up to build our own platform
where creators don't need to worry about demonetization
or the dreaded algorithm. It's called Nebula, and we're thrilled to be partnering with CuriosityStream. Nebula is a place where creators can do what they do best, create. It's a place where we can
both house our content ad-free and also experiment with original series that probably wouldn't work on YouTube. In fact, if you liked this
episode of The Case Of, you can find an extended
version that I actually can't show on YouTube, it's Legal Eagle, but now with 10% more murder. And when I say Nebula is built
by creators for creators, I really mean it. Nebula features lots of YouTube's
top educational creators like Lindsay Ellis,
Joe Scott, Kento Bento, Kurzgesagt, and tons of others. We get to collaborate in ways that wouldn't really work on YouTube. For example, the Nebula exclusive series called Working Titles where every episode, a different creator breaks down their favorite TV intro sequence. Recently Thomas Frank did Gravity Falls, Now You See It covered The Simpsons, and I'll be doing Law &
Order very, very soon. (gavel bangs) Seriously, we worked really hard on this and we're all really proud of the result. The project is self-funded,
not backed by investors, and we've managed to make this ad-free and with no dreaded algorithm. So what does this have to
do with CuriosityStream? Well, they love educational
content and educational creators, so they're the
perfect partner for Nebula, and we just recently worked out a deal where if you sign up for CuriosityStream with the link in the description, not only will you get
a free one-month trial for CuriosityStream, but you'll also get a subscription for Nebula for free, and to be clear, that doesn't expire. That Nebula subscription is not a trial, it's free for as long as you have a CuriosityStream subscription, which means that for less
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of the pivotal events in US history are tied to money, like Watergate and the Civil War, but you'll also get access to Nebula for as long as you have a
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creators and education. So what do you think, do
you agree with my analysis? Leave your objections in the comments, and check out this playlist over here that has all of my
other true crime videos, including the case of
the shotgun booby trap, and the case of the genius
murders Leopold and Loeb. So click on this playlist
and I'll see you in court.
