Pullman Co. v. Teutschman, 11840.

• Decision Date: 25 October 1948
• Docket Number: No. 11840.,11840.
• Citation: 169 F.2d 979
• Parties: PULLMAN CO. v. TEUTSCHMAN.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

169 F.2d 979 (1948)

PULLMAN CO. v. TEUTSCHMAN.

No. 11840.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

September 21, 1948.

Rehearing Denied October 25, 1948.

M. B. Strayer and Hart, Spencer, McCulloch & Rockwood, all of Portland, Or., for appellant.

T. H. Ryan and Ryan & Pelay, all of Portland, Or., for appellee.

Before DENMAN, Chief Judge and STEPHENS and HEALY, Circuit Judges.

HEALY, Circuit Judge.

This appeal raises the question of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a judgment in damages for personal injuries suffered by appellee while riding in a sleeping car operated by appellant.

Appellee was traveling via the Southern Pacific from Los Angeles to Portland. Before boarding the train she purchased a ticket for a tourist sleeping car berth which she was to occupy during the night. In the daytime she sat in a chair car and on reaching Martinez was obliged to change to another train in order to board the sleeper. She claimed to have arranged for a lower berth but was told by the Pullman conductor that her ticket called for an upper. She informed both the conductor and the porter that she had never before ridden on a sleeping car and was unacquainted with the use of berths, particularly an upper berth, and she expressed reluctance and fear about climbing the ladder to enter the upper assigned her. Appellee was a woman in her sixties, poorly dressed, of eccentric demeanor and appearance, and she limped badly from an old injury to her hip. She carried her effects, such as they were, in a violin case, her stockings were sagging, and her conduct was such as to lead some witnesses, including the conductor, to believe at first that she was intoxicated, although this was acknowledged by the conductor not to be the fact. He attributed the appearance of intoxication to be due rather to her taking a sleeping capsule.

When appellee got into her berth she did not undress except for removing her shoes. During the night the conductor noticed one of her feet protruding between the curtains and he shoved the foot back into the berth again. The curtains were unfastened perpendicularly and were partly open or separated from each other at that time. The woman was not cautioned to button the curtains or to keep them closed. Some time later in the night she fell from the berth and was injured without knowing how the fall came about.

The court found that she was in a confused and crippled condition, and that the responsible employees of the Pullman...