Ryder v. Jefferson Hotel Company

Supreme Court of South Carolina · 1922 · Civil Procedure

113 S.E. 474 (1922)

Updated July 29, 2026

Civil ProcedureJoinder of causes of actionMisjoinder of parties and claimsSection 218joindermisjoinderpersonal torthusband and wife

Facts

The complaint alleged that Charles A. Ryder and Edith C. Ryder, husband and wife, were guests of the Jefferson Hotel Company. During the night, the hotel's agent allegedly roused them at their room door and, in a rude and angry manner, insulted Edith C. Ryder, causing both plaintiffs to leave the hotel at midnight and seek other lodging. The complaint further alleged injury to their reputations, credit, and business, including lost custom and profits to Charles A. Ryder, and sought damages in a single action. The pleading treated the hotel incident as a wrongful breach of duties arising from the innkeeper-guest relationship owed to each plaintiff.

Issue

Whether a single complaint by husband and wife stated two separate personal tort causes of action that could be joined under Section 218 of the Code of Procedure. More specifically, the question was whether their claims, though arising from the same transaction, affected all parties so as to permit joint joinder.

Rule

Under Section 218, causes of action united in the same complaint must affect all parties to the action. When a personal tort is committed against two or more persons, the right of action is generally several, not joint, unless some prior legal union between them is of such a nature that the tort interferes with that union and thereby produces a common wrong and common damage to all.

🔒

See the holding & full analysis

Create a free KwikCourt account to unlock the rest of this brief — and practice the case.

The court's holding and reasoning
Doctrine tests, pitfalls & exam hypotheticals
10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case

Free sample · practice this case

Test yourself

One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Lena Ortiz and her brother Mateo Ortiz attended a trade fair in Phoenix. A security guard employed by Desert Lantern Expo accused both of theft in front of vendors, and each alleges separate humiliation and damage to individual business relationships; they file one complaint together seeking damages from the company.

Should the defendant's demurrer for improper joinder be sustained?

Explanation. Under the governing rule, causes joined in one complaint must affect all parties. Personal tort claims are ordinarily several, even when one wrongful act injures multiple people. A family relationship alone does not create a joint right to common recovery, and each plaintiff here alleges separate personal and business injury. Therefore the joinder is improper and demurrer should be sustained. (Derived from Ryder v. Jefferson Hotel Company (1922).)