Chesapeake & Ohio Railway v. Martin

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (defendant) shipped potatoes for Martin (plaintiff) under a bill of lading requiring claims within six months of a reasonable delivery time; the potatoes were misdelivered to the wrong warehouse and spoiled. Martin sued more than six months and twenty days after shipment. At trial, a railway employee testified, unchallenged and uncontradicted, that eight days was a reasonable delivery time — a period the shipment in fact met, since it arrived in Virginia within six days, leaving two more for warehouse delivery. The jury nonetheless found for Martin, the appellate court affirmed, and the railway sought Supreme Court review.