Miller v. Thurmond
Miller v. Thurmond
Opinion of the Court
Charles J. Thurmond (plaintiff) entered into an agreement with L. B. Miller and L. B. Miller & Company (defendants) for the sale of certain stock owned by the plaintiff. Defendant Miller was the general partner of the defendant Miller & Co., a stockbrokerage firm having its sole place of business in the State of California. Since Miller & Co. was not a member of a stock exchange, it was understood that all sales and records thereof would be handled through J. P. Guerin Co. (Guerin), an exchange member. There was no agreement as to the amount of stock to be sold, the selling price of the stock, or the dates on which the plaintiff would deliver stock to the defendants for sale. At all times pertinent, Guerin was the agent of the defendants for the purpose of facilitating the sale of the plaintiffs stock.
On December 23, 1968, the plaintiff mailed 5,000 shares of J. D. Jewell Inc. stock (Jewell stock) to Guerin with instructions to the defendants to sell 1,000 shares and hold the balance for his account. When a purchaser was found for the remaining 4,000 shares, defendant Miller was to notify the plaintiff and obtain authorization to sell at the price offered. In January, 1969, the defendant Miller received telephone authorization from the plaintiff to sell 2,000 shares of the stock at $14 per share. On January 14, 1969, the plaintiff received a confirmation of the sale from Guerin crediting his account with $28,000. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff authorized the defendants to sell the remaining 3,000 shares at $15 per share. Confirmation statement relating to this sale was promptly sent to the plaintiff by Guerin. After receiving this last confirmation statement from Guerin, the plaintiff testified that he knew that "It
The crux of the defendants’ position is that the plaintiff was barred by his own negligence in failing to take notice of and/or correct the error contained in the month-end statement dated February 28, 1969, showing 5,000 shares of Jewell stock remaining in his account with J. P. Guerin. This position does not hold water. The defendants’ answer admits that Guerin was the defendants’ agent for the purpose of selling the plaintiffs Jewell stock. The error was made by J. P. Guerin & Co. If it could be said that the plaintiff was charged with notice of the error, it could be said with at least equal force that Guerin had notice of the error. As agent of the defendants , this notice would be imputed to defendants as a matter of law. Code § 4-309. The error in the February 28, 1969, month-end statement was made by Guerin. The defendants are bound for the care and diligence of their agent, Guerin, in his business, and are bound for the agent’s neglect in the transaction thereof. Code § 4-311.
The case was properly presented to the jury for resolution and the judgment is therefore affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.