Adams v. Beaver Valley Traction Co.

Citations

• 41 Pa. Super. 403
• 1909 Pa. Super. LEXIS 74

Syllabus

<p>Street railways — Passenger—Ejection from car — Damages—Punitive damages — Compensatory damages.</p> <p>1. Where a passenger in a street car after a controversy with the conductor about the fare leaves the car voluntarily at the request of the conductor, he will not be entitled to punitive damages in an action for wrongful ejection, if it appears that the conductor did nothing, except to give the passenger a push, and subsequently commanded him to leave the car in a violent and ungentlemanly manner.</p> <p>2. Exemplary or punitive damages are allowed only where the act complained of has been committed willfully and maliciously, or, in the absence of actual malice, where it has been committed under circumstances of violence, oppression, outrage, or wanton recklessness.</p> <p>3. Where a passenger seventy-eight years old is wrongfully ejected from a street car, and is compelled to walk a distance of nearly a mile and been subjected to some delay in making a connection to reach his final destination, a verdict in his favor for $100 will be sustained, although the trial judge committed error in instructing the jury that the passenger was entitled to punitive damages. The amount of the verdict shows that the erroneous instruction had no effect upon the jury. The error was therefore harmless.</p>