Fowler v. Stoner-McCray System
Fowler v. Stoner-McCray System
Opinion of the Court
The defendant corporation is engaged in the business of outdoor advertising for merchants and other business men. The plaintiff’s husband, Leonard Fowler, is a solicitor of such advertising. Under oral agreement between said parties, Fowler undertook to secure contracts with various individuals for advertising, to be done by painted signs or bulletins, and defendant agreed that, if such contracts or orders were accepted and approved on its part, it would take them over and execute them, paying Fowler a commission at an agreed rate upon the amounts represented by such contracts. In carrying on the business thus arranged for, the defendant undertook to advance or furnish to Fowler a weekly stipend, to apply upon his commissions and expenses. In alleged pursuance of this agreement, Fowler went to Mason City, where he obtained a joint agreement with a group of merchants for advertising on terms evidenced by a writing signed by some 20 different persons. When this contract was reported to defendant, the latter refused to accept it, objecting to certain items therein, and especially to the grouping of several advertisers in one agreement. It is the claim of
"Without stopping to go into the evidence, it may here be said that such commissions have not been paid in full, and, if the defenses pleaded and relied upon by Stoner-McCray are to be disregarded or are overruled, there is a balance due on said account. The troublesome question in the case is whether there is evidence in support of the defense and counterclaim which appellant whs entitled to have submitted to the jury. Briefly stated, the counterclaim is to the effect that Fowler, in obtaining these contracts, wrongfully and in violation of defendant’s instructions, made false, fraudulent, and misleading representations and promises to the advertisers, who relied thereon, and were thereby induced to make said contracts; and that, because of such frauds, the advertisers, or many of them, rescinded or sought to rescind the contracts, and, upon being sued thereon, made defenses resulting in a compromise by which defendant sustained a loss in excess of the sum unpaid on Fowler’s commission.
■ If Fowler did, in fact, exceed the authority given him, and perpetrate a fraud upon the advertisers, thereby affording them a valid ground for refusing to perform on their part, thus causing injury or loss to the defendant, his liability for damages so resulting to defendant would not be open to doubt.; but the defect in the defense or counterclaim as here presented is in the failure of evidence to sustain the allegation. It is true that the advertisers did resist payment of the defendant’s demand upon said contracts, and, being sued, pleaded the alleged fraud and misrepresentation; but such charge was never adjudicated, and the issues thereon never came to trial. The defendant volun
As defendant itself undertook to fill the contracts, and furnished the materials ■ and the mechanics and artists who constructed and ornamented the signs, and as it claims that the materials furnished were of the proper kind and quality, and its employees competent and skilled in such work, and that they did, in fact, perform their contracts with fidelity, it seems clear that, in- the absence of proof of any consequexxtial damages of a measurable character to the defendant, there was no ex'ror in directing a verdict for the agreed commissions, to the extent that the evidence is undisputed.
Looking to the verdict as ordered and returned, it appears that commissions were allowed on all the contracts procured by Fowler, 20 in number. An examixxation of the records leads us
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.