## Facts

- Rebecca Smith, a Black woman intending to travel on the South Carolina Railway, went to the Graniteville depot to buy a ticket.
- Smith entered a waiting room she described as the “ladies’ waiting room.”
- The depot agent directed Smith to leave that room and use another room designated for Black passengers.
- Smith refused to move and was ejected from the room.
- Smith alleged the ejection was forcible, unlawful, and caused physical injuries.
- The receiver for the railway contended the agent acted pursuant to a regulation separating white and Black passengers into different waiting rooms.
- Smith contended the agent lacked authority to impose such a separation without corporate authorization and that the room for Black passengers was inferior.

## Issues

1. Whether a depot agent has implied authority, without specific corporate action, to adopt and enforce depot regulations separating white and Black passengers into different waiting rooms.
2. Whether providing separate waiting-room accommodations by race is unlawful per se.
3. Whether the legality of racial separation depended on the reasonableness of the regulation and the equality of the accommodations provided.
4. Whether the plaintiff could recover tort damages for ejection after refusing to comply with the agent’s instruction.

## Decision

- The South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the jury verdict for the defendant (the railway’s receiver).
- The court held depot agents have implied authority, incident to their office, to make and enforce reasonable depot regulations unless the carrier restricts that authority.
- The court held separate accommodations for white and Black passengers are not unlawful if the accommodations provided are equally comfortable and decent.
- The court treated the alleged inequality of the waiting rooms and the reasonableness of the regulation’s application as factual matters resolved by the jury, with no reversible error shown.

## Legal Principles

- Depot agents, as an incident of their position, may adopt reasonable regulations governing depot operations and passenger use of facilities unless the carrier limits that power.
- A common carrier may separate passengers in depot facilities by race if it provides accommodations that are equally comfortable and decent.
- Whether separate facilities are in fact equal and whether a regulation is reasonably applied are generally questions for the factfinder; an appellate court will not disturb a defense verdict absent legal error.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the authority of a railroad depot agent to enforce racially separate waiting rooms and affirmed a defense verdict where the separation was treated as lawful if the accommodations for Black passengers were equally comfortable and decent, leaving equality and reasonableness to the jury on the record presented.


Smith v. Chamberlain, 17 S.E. 371 (S.C. 1893)