Penland v. Barrett Co.
Penland v. Barrett Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The plaintiff recovered judgment for damages on account of a defective roof laid by the defendant, a corporation, on a school building being erected by the plaintiff for a school district in Osborne county. The defendant appeals.
“W. N. Penland, Osborne, Kansas.
“Dear Sir:
“The Barrett Co., have requested us to submit a figure on applying a Barrett Specification roof on school bldg, you have under contract at Natoma, Kansas. We propose to furnish the specification material, pay all freights and other expense, and apply a twenty-year roof over boards for the sum of Nine dollars ($9.00) per square. This would leave you to furnish 'gravel or Joplin chatts. Either would fulfill specifications. Suppose you will be using more or less chatts for cement floors, etc. You would require for the roof about 300 lbs. to the square. We would be pleased to hear from you. Resp.
“A. J. Shirk Roofing Co. Geo. F. Moeller, Ptest.”
The defendant argues that the petition alleged that the contract was made with the defendant, but that in contradiction thereto the letter showed that the contract was made with the A. J. Shirk Roofing Company. An examination of the letter reveals that it states that the proposition contained therein was submitted at the request of the defendant. There was no allegation in the petition that the Shirk Roofing Company was .the agent of the defendant, but a reasonable interpretation of the letter is that the Shirk Roofing Company was acting for the defendant when the offer contained in the letter was made. If the letter and the allegations of the petition are construed together, as they should be, it will be seen that they are not contradictory to, but are harmonious with each other. It must be held that the petition alleged a contract with the defendant, and stated a cause of action.
“An agent who acts without authority from his principal does not bind the principal unless the principal after full knowledge of what the agent did accepts or approves the acts of the agent or accepts the benefit of the unauthorized act, and in this case if you find by the greater weight of all the evidence that the defendant accepted the acts or things done, if any, by A. J. Shirk & Co. or accepted and received the fruits of the acts of the said A. J. Shirk & Co. in its (defendant’s) behalf, if any, then the defendant would be bound by the acts or doings of A. J. Shirk & Co. the same as if it had authorized A. J. Shirk & Co. to act as its agent or representative before A. J. Shirk & Co. acted in behalf of defendant, if it did so act. Unless you find by the greater weight of all the evidence in this case that A. J. Shirk and Company were authorized by defendant to sell and put in place the Barrett Specification roof on the school building at Natoma, Kansas, or that the defendant accepted or ratified the acts, if any, of A. J. Shirk & Company in its behalf your verdict should be for the defendant, notwithstanding you should also find said roof was negligently constructed and the material furnished was defective.”
The evidence has been summarized and need not here be repeated. It is sufficient to say that the evidence warranted the instructions that were given concerning agency.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- W. N. Penland v. The Barrett Company
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Contract — Putting Roof on Schoolhouse — Sufficiency of Petition. The petition alleged facts sufficient to show that a contract had been entered into between the plaintiff and the defendant. 2. Same — Demurrer to Plaintiff’s Evidence Properly Overruled. There was sufficient evidence tending to show that a contract had been entered into between the plaintiff and the defendant to warrant the court in overruling the demurrer to the plaintiff’s evidence. 3. Same — Contract Made Through Agent — Agent’s Authority — Fact for Jury. There was evidence sufficient to warrant the court in submitting to the jury the question of the agency of third parties to enter into a contract binding the defendant. 4. Same — Existence of Contract — Issue of Fact for Jury. There was sufficient evidence to warrant the court in directing the jury to find whether or not there was a contract between the plaintiff and the defendant.