Fennell v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co.

Citations

• 98 Kan. 210
• 158 P. 14
• 1916 Kan. LEXIS 49

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>Assault — In Passenger Depot — By Town Marshal — Damages — Liability of Railroad Company. A colored man sixty-six years old and his wife went as passengers from Newton to Walton, arriving late in the afternoon. The testimony tended to show that they failed to find the man they went to see, and desired to remain in the depot until the train back to Newton, due in about an hour and a half, should come. The town marshal came in, looked at the plaintiffs, asked the ticket agent where they were going, and ordered them out, telling them they could not get a train till late the next morning and “they could make it back to Newton before that time.” When they expressed a desire to get a ticket and remain in the depot he told them they could not stay there and he would lock them up if they went up town, and with some force ejected them from the depot, the agent being within sight and hearing and making no remonstrance but taking no part in the expulsion. Being thus compelled to walk back to Newton on a dark and inclement evening, they received injuries for which they sought to recover damages from the company, on the theory that it was the agent’s duty to protect them from the actions of the officer. Assuming, without deciding, that the plaintiffs were entitled to the rights of passengers waiting in a depot to take a train, it is held that the defendant was not rendered liable for the mere noninterference with the officer by the ticket agent.</p>