Toca v. Thompson & Whitty, Inc.
Toca v. Thompson & Whitty, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit to recover damages for faulty construction of the foundation of a house. Plaintiffs, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Toca, alleged that in the latter part of 1948 they entered into a verbal agreement with Means, Thompson & Whitty, Inc. (now Thompson & Whitty, Inc.), a Louisi
Plaintiffs further alleged that defendants T. P. Thompson and S. K. Whitty, who were officers of the corporation, were present from time to time when the foundation was under construction and were aware of the defective manner in which the work was done contrary to the plans, and that because of their guilty knowledge and the fraud perpetrated by them they are liable in solido with the corporation.
After trial on the merits there was judgment rejecting plaintiffs’ demands against T. P. Thompson and S. K. Whitty and dismissing the suit as of nonsuit against the defendant corporation, Thompson & Whitty, Inc. From this judgment plaintiffs have appealed.
Mr. and Mrs. Toca, the plaintiffs, did not employ a general contractor to- construct their home, but let contracts to various firms and individuals for each phase-of the work as it progressed to- be carried out according to plans and specifications which had been prepared for them. These plaintiffs, however, did employ a supervisor named Sprague, who watched the laying of the foundation and reported to Mrs.'Toca when it was completed. The plaintiffs did not call Sprague as a witness, and he did not testify in the case.
To recover in the instant case, plaintiffs -rely principally on the testimony of an architect called by them as an expert, who testified that the foundation had not been laid according to the plans and specifications in certain particulars which he enumerated, and testified that the cracks in the walls were caused by the failure of the defendant corporation to comply in these respects with the plans and specifications.
The evidence discloses that there was a settlement of only three-eighths of an inch in the foundation, and that there were no ruptures or cracks in the foundation or grade beam, and according to defendants’ expert as much as a three-inch variation in the level of a house is absolutely negligible as a cause for cracking or structural damage to the house. Defendants’ expert, whose testimony impresses us, testified that the dwelling which the plaintiffs built on the foundation constructed for them by the defendant was not built in
Since we have concluded that plaintiffs have not made out a case against the defendant corporation, it naturally follows that there 'is no individual liability on the part of the officers of the corporation, T. P. Thompson and S. K. Whitty, and the judgment dismissing the suit as to them will be affirmed.
For the reasons assigned, the judgment appealed from is affirmed, appellants to pay all costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TOCA et ux. v. THOMPSON & WHITTY, Inc.
- Status
- Published