On May 4, 1884, a train conductor ordered Wells to give up her seat in a nice car and move to a crowded car. At the time, railroad companies were allowed to separate their passengers by race. Wells refused to give up her seat. The conductor and two men dragged her out of the car. Wells fought back and even bit the conductor on the hand. Wells wrote a newspaper article for "The Living Way," an article for black people, about her treatment on the train. She hired a black lawyer to sue the railroad. The railroad paid her lawyer to not work for her, so Wells hired a white lawyer. She won her case on December 24, 1884. The local court granted her a $500 award. The railroad company then took the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court. That court decided against Wells in 1887. Wells was ordered to pay money to the court. She responded saying she felt sad and disappointed because she had hoped that her lawsuit would help her fellow black Americans: "I felt so disappointed because I had hoped such great things from my suit for my people...O God, is there no...justice in this land for us?"