Barton v. Bee Line, Inc.
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York
265 N.Y.S. 284 (1933)
Barton (plaintiff), a fifteen-year-old passenger on a bus operated by Bee Line, Inc. (defendant), a common carrier, claimed one of Bee Line's chauffeurs had sexual intercourse with her; the chauffeur claimed she consented. Barton sued Bee Line for breach of its duty as a common carrier, and the parties stipulated that Bee Line would be liable if the chauffeur assaulted Barton while she was a passenger. Under New York's penal code, sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman under eighteen is rape in the second degree regardless of consent. The trial court instructed the jury that Barton could recover even if she consented, and the jury awarded her damages, but the trial court set aside the verdict as inadequate under the Civil Practice Act. Barton appealed.
Whether a breach of the penal statute criminalizing sexual intercourse with a minor, standing alone, creates civil liability when the minor consented.