Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. Teed

14 Ohio C.C. 355
CourtOhio Circuit Courts
DecidedMarch 15, 1895
StatusPublished

This text of 14 Ohio C.C. 355 (Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. Teed) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Circuit Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co. v. Teed, 14 Ohio C.C. 355 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1895).

Opinion

Frazier, J.

Charles Teed, the defendant in error, brought an action in the court of common pleas, claiming that on the 21st day •of December, 1889, he was unlawfully ejected from the cars •of the defendant below.

That he had a ticket as the evidence of having paid his fare.and entitling him to ride from Kingsville to Ashtabula.

That the conductor in charge of the train refused to accept the ticket, and demanded that he pay his fare in money for his passage, and on his refusal to do so,the conductor stop ped the train where there was no station,and refused to carry plaintiff or permit him to ride further toward Ashtabula on •the ticket; and without any just cause,illegally and wrongfully ejected plaintiff from the train and lefEhim to make his way as best he could, whereby it is averred he is injured, and prays judgment.

[357]*357To this petition the defendant answers and admits that it is a corporation owning and operating the railroad as alleged.

Admits that on the 21st of December, 1889, the plaintiff ¿not having a proper ticket and refusing to pay his fare, was requested to leave one of defendant’s trains between Kings-ville and Ashtabula, and that he left the same voluntarily, -and the defendant denies each and every other allegation in the petition contained.

Plaintiff replies that he had a good and sufficient ticket, -such a one as entitled him to be carried from Kingsville to Ashtabula; that it was one of the regular and unlimited tickets issued by the defendant company.

That he left the car under compulsion, and not voluntarily; that the conductor and brakoman in charge of the train, demanded that he should leave, anc did so in a rough, rude and insulting manner, threatening force if he did not comply therewith, and that he left the car and train under compulsion and orders to do so,and not voluntarily.

Upon these issues the parties went to trial to a jury, which returned a verdict for plaintiff for $450. A motion for a new .trial was made, which being overruled, a bill of exceptions was taken, setting out all the evidence with the rulings and •charge of the court.

Counsel for plaintiff in error, admit the evidence warranted the jury in finding that plaintiff below had an unlimited ticket of the company, which entitled him to be carried from Kingsville to Ashtabula upon the train and in the car in •question.

The conductor testified that when the ticket was presented, 'he believed it to be a going coupon of a round trip limited •ticket.

The difficulty probably arose from the fact that the ticket had been purchased upon a day prior to the time he entered •upon the passage, and Mr. Teed in his testimony gives as a ■¡reason why it was not used at that time,that after he bought [358]*358it and was waiting to take his passage, a neighbor or friend came along and invited him to ride in his buggy,and he did so, and consequently did not use it on the day it was purchased. Mr. Teed also testifies he carried it in his vest pocket and it became somewhat soiled. It is an admission in the record that the stamp on the ticket could be read. When the ticket was presented, it was refused by the conductor, and plaintiff was notified that he could not ride upon it, and the train was stopped, and and he was ordered to leave the train, while the evidence does not show that actual force was used, yet certainly it was under such circumstances that Teed understood and had a right to understand, that if he did not leave the train the conductor would use such force as was necessary to put him off.

The objections urged in this court are, that the court of common pleas erred in its charge as to the rule of damages, and that the damages are excessive. The plaintiff in error insists that the action is only for the breach of a contract, and that the plaintiff below can only recover his actual damages, viz: the price of the ticket, and the labor of walking to Ashtabula; that he has averred no special damages, and the recovery is limited to the items of damages above stated.

The statements of the plaintiff in his petition bearing upon this question,are: “that he had a proper ticket,as the token of his right to a passage from Kingsville to Ashtabula; that said conductor refused to accept said ticket,and commanded the plaintiff to pay his fare in money, for said passage, and on refussing to do so, the conductor of said train stopped it, where there was no station, and refused to carry plaintiff or permit him to ride any further on the train on said ticket toward Ashtabula, and without any just cause, illegally and wrongfully ejected plaintiff from the train and left him to make his way as best he could,” whereby it is averred he is injured and asks judgment.

The court of common pleas charged the jury,in substance, [359]*359that the plaintiff would be entitled to recover for injury to his feelings, in being ejected from the car at the place he was, and in the presence of the passengers. I apprehend that it is a rule of law, that a party doing a wrongful act, is liable for and must anticipate the natural and necessary consequences and result of his act, and that under this rule, plaintiff below was entitled to recover for the injury to his feelings, which naturally and necessarily resulted from the wrongful and deliberate act of the defendant. In Smith v. The Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railway Company, 23 Ohio St., 10, the fourth paragraph of the syllabus is:

“In an action for a personal tort an injury to the feelings, naturally and necessarily resulting from the wrongful act, may be considered by the jury in their estimate of compensatory damages, whether the case be or be not one in which damages beyond compensation may be awarded.”

The case of Smith v. The Railway Company, was an action brought for expelling Smith from a train of the company. It appears that Smith boarded the train upon that occasion, for the purpose of being expelled from the cars, in order that he might test a rule of the company which required if passengers did not purchase a ticket before entering the cars, they should pay an additional rate. It is evident from the statement of the case, that Smith not only expected, but desired to be expelled from the cars. The opinion of the court, as stated in the syllabus of a case,must always be read in view of the question that was then before the court to be decided. Counsel for defendant in Smith v. Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railway Company, supra, claimed in argument to the supreme court:

“Compensation is limited to direct pecuniary loss and cost of suits only. No indirect loss, no mental suffering or wounded feelings,is included.”

Counsel in that case further say:

“The petition here charges neither fraud, malice, nor [360]*360an intention to oppress, and the evidence shows clearly that the defendant’s servants did not intentionally annoy or insult the plaintiff;” and in that case the court of common pleas charged the jury, that:
‘‘Should youfind the company liable, you will proceed to determine the damages for the plaintiff.

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Bluebook (online)
14 Ohio C.C. 355, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lake-shore-michigan-southern-railway-co-v-teed-ohiocirct-1895.