Atlantic & Pacific Railroad v. Laird

Citations

• 164 U.S. 393
• 17 S. Ct. 120
• 41 L. Ed. 485
• 1896 U.S. LEXIS 1876

Syllabus

<p>The complaint in this case charged that the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Company and the plaintiff in error, corporations of the State of Massachusetts, were, at the time of the injury complained of, jointly operating a railroad; that the defendant was travelling upon it with a first class ticket; and that by reason of negligence of the defendants an accident took place which caused the injuries to the plaintiff for which recovery was sought. The answers denied joint negligence, or joint operation of the road, and admitted that the plaintiff in error was operating it at the time.. A trial resulted in a verdict in favor of the Atchison Company and against the plaihtiff in error. On the trial the complaint was amended by substituting “ second class ” for “ first class ” ticket, and that the charters were by acts of Congress, and to the complaint so amended the statute of limitations was pleaded. A judgment on $he verdict was set aside and an amended complaint was filed in which the plaintiff in error was charged to have done the negligent acts complained of, and recovery was sought against it. A second trial resulted in a verdict against the company. Held,</p> <p>(1) That the action was ex delicto ; that the defendants might have been sued either separately or jointly; that recovery might have been had, if proof warranted against a single party; and that the amendment,’ dismissing one of two joint tort feasors, and alleging that the injury complained of was occasioned solely by the remaining defendant, did not introduce a new cause of action;</p> <p>(2) That the amendment stating that the plaintiff was travelling upon a second class ticket instead of a first class ticket, and that the plaintiff in error was chartered by an act of Congress instead of by a statute of Massachusetts, as originally averred, did not state a new cause of action.</p>