Sheldon v. S.S. Uncle Sam

Citations

• 18 Cal. 526
• 1861 Cal. LEXIS 245

Syllabus

<p>Husband and wife cannot recover jointly in an action by them ex contractu for the breach of a contract made with defendant for the transportation of the wife from San Francisco to New York.</p> <p>But if, in such action, no demurrer be interposed, and if the facts stated and proven show that plaintiffs are entitled to relief for fraud practiced by defendant, or for personal injury to the wife, then the action to that extent is well brought; and relief will not be denied on the ground that the same facts would support an action on the contract in which the husband alone can recover.</p> <p>Husband and wife must join in an action for an injury done to the person of the latter; and it is immaterial that the injury is charged to have been committed in violation of a contract.</p> <p>Where the breach of a contract is a wrong, the party may sue in tort instead of suing upon the contract.</p> <p>In an action under the three hundred and seventeenth section of the Practice Act by husband and wife against a steamship for injuries inflicted upon her, plaintiffs cannot recover disbursements or expenditures by the husband. For these he must sue alone.</p> <p>The liability of the steamship in such case is measured by that of the owners, and extends to the entire injury sustained.</p> <p>The practice in Courts of Admiralty has no application tb actions brought under this section of our statute.</p>