Craker v. the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company

Summary

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed a judgment of $1,000 in favor of a female passenger assaulted by a conductor on the defendant railway's train. The court held that a principal is liable for a servant's wrongful act, whether negligent or malicious, when committed in the course of an employment whose very purpose is to perform a duty the principal owes to the injured person; a railroad therefore answers for its conductor's indecent assault on a passenger. The court also held that exemplary damages cannot be recovered against the principal absent the principal's own authorization or ratification of the agent's malice, but that compensatory damages include mental suffering, including the sense of wrong or insult arising from the act, and that the verdict was not excessive.