Ramsey County History – Fall 2016: “John Anderson’s Fall from the High Bridge”

John Anderson’s Fall from the High Bridge
Author: John T. Sielaff

On May 2, 1902, John Anderson, a painter working as part of a crew repainting the St. Paul High Bridge, fell 125 feet into the Mississippi River and survived. Although injured when he hit the footing of the bridge, he was rescued from the water and subsequently sued his employer. Anderson claimed the equipment supplied by his employer that he had to use was unsafe. The employer claimed Anderson had been negligent. The case went to a jury trial in January 1903. The jury awarded Anderson $4,000, but an error in the trial precipitated a new trial later that year. Anderson, however, died in September, probably from internal injuries related to his accident, and the new trial never took place. Anderson’s family recovered no money. This case of an uncompensated injury in the workplace and others like it eventually led to the adoption of Workers’ Compensation laws in Minnesota beginning in 1913.

PDF of Sielaff article