Sullivan v. Old Colony Street Ry.

Mary Sullivan was a passenger on a railway car operated by Old Colony Street Railway Company when the car left the track and struck a post. About seven months after the accident she became pregnant; her baby was born prematurely fourteen months after the accident, suffered congenital weaknesses, and died about 48 hours after birth. Sullivan sued the railway for damages arising from the accident, seeking recovery for the child's death and for her own mental suffering associated with it, on the theory that the premature birth and death resulted from hysteria caused by the accident. The railway admitted liability for the accident itself but contested any liability connected to the baby's death or Sullivan's related mental suffering. Sullivan's own physician testified that her only physical injury from the accident was a bruised rib, that she suffered a mental disturbance afterward, but that he could only speculate as to any connection between that condition and the premature birth and death of the child; a physician called by the railway testified that a mother's severe nervous condition could cause a premature birth. The trial judge instructed the jury that the railway was not liable for the child's death itself as too remote from the accident, but allowed the jury to award Sullivan damages for her own mental suffering over the death if it found the accident had contributed to the premature birth or death. The jury awarded Sullivan damages, and the railway appealed.