Barton v. Bee Line, Inc.

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Barton v. Bee Line, Inc., 238 App. Div. 501, 265 N.Y.S. 284 (1933).

Plaintiff, a 15-year-old girl, claimed that she was raped by the chauffeur of Defendant, a common carrier. The chauffeur claimed that the parties had consensual sex. In its jury instructions, the trial court stated that Plaintiff was entitled to recover damages even if the jury determined that she had consented to the sexual intercourse. The court instructed that consent can, however, be used as a factor to mitigate damages. The jury awarded Plaintiff $3,000.00, but the trial court considered it inadequate and set it aside.

The issued faced by the court of appeal was whether the trial court erred by instructing the jury that Plaintiff was entitled to damages even if she had consented to the sexual intercourse. The Court ruled that the trial court did err by providing this instruction to the jury.

The Court reasoned that the society protects underage girls such as Plaintiff through criminal statutes. The relevant penal code in the state provided that: “A person who perpetrates an act of sexual intercourse with a female, not his wife, under the age of eighteen years, under circumstances not amounting to rape in the first degree, is guilty of rape in the second degree, and punishable with imprisonment for not more than ten years.” According to the court, it is one thing to say that society will protect itself by punishing those who consort with females under the age of consent; but it is another to hold that, knowing the nature of her act, such female shall be rewarded for her indiscretion. If it is held that underage females can recover monetary damages for have consensual sex, this can lead to abuse. “Instead of incapacity to consent being a shield to save, it might be a sword to desecrate.” Therefore, the Court ruled that a female who is a minor has no cause of action against a male with whom she has consensual sex, if at the time of the intercourse, she knew the nature and quality of her actions.