Bacon v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
321 F.2d 880 · 1963
Citation profile
5 federal appellate · 15 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 27 later decisions — most recently February 2012 · most notably Alvarez v. New Haven Register, Inc. (1999), 99 Wis. 2d 179 - Swanigan v. State Farm Insurance (1980)
5 federal appellate · 15 state decisions — followed in 10 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 1346 (Federal Tort Claims Act)
Relies on Air Transport Assocs., Inc. v. United States · United States v. First Sec. Bank of Utah, N. A. · Max v. Spaeth · Buchanan v. United States · Rushford v. United States
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 27 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“We hold that in a tort action based exclusively on the alleged negligence of an employee or agent, a valid release of that employee-agent releases the employer or principal from liability, even though the release specifically reserves all claims against the employer-principal. See Max v. Spaeth, 349 S.W.2d 1 (Mo.); Bacon v. United States, 321 F.2d 880 (8th Cir.). Both courts held in those cases: “The master’s liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior is based not on his own misdeeds but those of this servant, and ‘therefore, when the servant is not liable, the master for whom he was acting at the time should not be liable.’ It matters little how the servant was released from liability; as long as he is free from harm, it appears to us that his master should also be held blameless.” 197 N.W.2d at 388 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“We further agree that this covenant may be pleaded as a defense, counterclaim, or cross-claim to any action or suit brought by us or anyone on our behalf against (the employee or his insurance company) which arises out of, or may arise out of, said collision.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““We do not feel that these cases, are in conflict with our holding for we are bound by the law of Missouri. * * * ””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.