Pennsylvania Railroad v. Chamberlain
United States Supreme Court
288 U.S. 333 (1933)
Chamberlain (plaintiff), administrator of a deceased brakeman's estate, sued Pennsylvania Railroad (defendant) alleging a negligent multicar collision threw the brakeman from his car to be run over by another; three witnesses testified no collision occurred, while Chamberlain's sole supporting witness had not personally observed any collision but merely inferred from surrounding circumstances that one had happened. The trial court directed a verdict for the railroad, an intermediate appellate court reversed, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a plaintiff's evidence, consisting of a witness's speculative inference (rather than direct observation) that a critical event occurred, is sufficient to send a case to the jury when that evidence is equally consistent with the event not having occurred.