Pedersen v. United States

A dog and a cat may cause complications.

This is a suit by an employee of the State Department who claims per diem allowances for himself and wife, while delayed in Egypt en route from Turkey to the United States during the spring of 1945. Under the regulations plaintiff is entitled to a per diem for himself and his wife “during the time necessarily spent at ports awaiting sailing.”

The issue turns on how much of the delay was necessarily spent in awaiting transportation, and how much of the delay, if any, was due to Mr. Pedersen’s reluctance to travel without his wife and to Mrs. Pedersen’s…