## Facts

- Luke Nevin bought three first-class railroad tickets from Dubuque, Iowa, to Chicago for himself, his wife, and his niece.
- Before departure, Nevin entered a Pullman sleeping car attached to the train and under the Pullman Palace Car Company’s control.
- Nevin engaged two lower berths from the sleeping-car conductor at $1.50 each; the conductor assigned one berth to the niece and one to Nevin and his wife, promising to have them made up later.
- Nevin and his wife sat at their assigned berth and repeatedly requested that the berths be made up while tendering the agreed price.
- At about midnight, when the train reached Lena, Illinois, Nevin briefly stepped onto the sleeper’s platform; the conductor closed and secured the doors, preventing Nevin from reentering.
- The conductor refused Nevin’s requests to reopen the doors, removed Nevin’s belongings from the assigned berth, and ejected Nevin’s wife from the sleeper to another car.
- Nevin was compelled to ride in a common passenger coach for the remainder of the trip and alleged resulting loss of rest, sickness, and humiliation.
- Nevin alleged the exclusion was willful and malicious, and premised on a false assertion that he refused to pay.

## Issues

1. Whether allegations that a sleeping-car company assigned a berth to a passenger who tendered payment, then wrongfully excluded him, state a cause of action.
2. Whether the passenger had an enforceable right against the sleeping-car company despite purchasing transportation tickets from the railroad rather than the sleeping-car company.

## Decision

- The Illinois Supreme Court held the declaration stated a sufficient cause of action.
- The trial court erred by sustaining a general demurrer, and the appellate affirmance was erroneous.
- The judgments were reversed and the case was remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- A sleeping-car company that undertakes to furnish a berth to a particular passenger has a duty not to wrongfully deprive the passenger of that accommodation after assignment.
- An assigned berth coupled with the passenger’s readiness and tender of the agreed price sufficiently alleges a right to occupy the berth, enforceable against the company controlling the sleeping car.
- Wrongful exclusion and expulsion from contracted sleeping accommodations can support damages for resulting physical discomfort and humiliation, especially when alleged to be willful and malicious.
- On general demurrer, pleadings are construed with reasonable intendments in favor of the pleader; a declaration is sufficient if it fairly alleges a legal wrong and resulting injury.

## Conclusion

The court allowed the action to proceed, holding that a passenger who was assigned sleeping berths and tendered payment adequately alleged an actionable wrong when the sleeping-car company’s conductor excluded him and displaced his party, with claimed physical and emotional harms.


Nevin v. Pullman Palace Car Co., 106 Ill. 222 (Ill. 1883)