Michigan Lumber Yard v. Blesch
Michigan Lumber Yard v. Blesch
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff brings this case to this court upon writ of error from a judgment entered upon a verdict directed against it by the court. The suit was an action of trespass on the case. The facts necessary to be stated are: That plaintiff was a dealer in lumber and other building materials in the city of Detroit, and furnished a large quantity of such materials to a contractor
“It is understood and agreed by and between the parties hereto that the work included in this contract is to be done under the direction of the said architect, and that his decision as to the true construction and meaning of the drawings and specifications shall be final. * * * No alterations shall be made in the work except upon the written order of the architect; the amount to be paid by the owner or allowed by the contractor by virtue of such alterations to be stated in said order.”
“ It is hereby mutually agreed between the parties hereto that the sum to be paid by the owner to the contractor for said work and material shall be |9,300, subject to additions and deductions as hereinbefore provided, and that such sum shall be paid by the owner to the contractor in current funds and only upon certificates of the architect as follows [giving the amounts and times of payment as the work progressed].”
Plaintiff predicates the liability of defendant in a suit of trespass on the case upon certain statements and representations of the architect, Kamper, claimed to have been made as agent of defendant, which it is claimed were false, and upon which plaintiff acted to its damage; that such damage resulted to it on account of forbearing from instituting lien proceedings or other action to secure itself for the amount owing to it by the contractor, Schneider.
It appears from the record that on December 12, 1908, two representatives of plaintiff went to Mr. Kamper about getting money on the Schneider account, who claim Kamper said to them that he could not pay any money on
Errors relied upon by plaintiff are:
(1) Because the court erred in holding that the defendant could not be made liable under the plaintiff’s proofs.
(2) Because the court erred in holding that Mr. Hamper, the architect, was not an agent with authority to bind defendant.
The liability of defendant in this case rests upon the
“There is nothing in that contract which authorized Mr. Kamper to direct the payment of money. All that Mr. Kamper has to do is to supervise the work and see that it is rightly done, and when it is done to his satisfaction then he issues a certificate upon which money might be paid. There is nothing anywhere except in this clause here which would carry any right on Mr. Kamper’s part to attempt to bind Mr. Blesch in the way it is claimed by the plaintiff in this case. So that Mr. Blesch would not be responsible for representations made by Mr. Kamper, if he made any, to the Michigan Lumber Yard.”
The authority delegated to the architect contained in the contract has been stated.' We agree with the trial court that there is nothing in it which would bind defendant by the representations upon which plaintiff relies, even if such representations have in all respects been of the character claimed by plaintiff, which is not necessary to be determined in this case. We think that the testimony in the case does not show that defendant ever intimated or gave plaintiff’s representatives to understand that Kamper had authority to bind him in any way by his statements or representations. All of the evidence agrees that no one on behalf of plaintiff saw defendant personally until after the February talk with Kamper. One witness testifies to calling defendant by telephone, and that he referred him to Kamper, but taking all of his testimony as true it is not sufficient to support the contention of plaintiff. The court concluded his consideration of this claim of plaintiff by charging the jury:
“ So that I say that, so far as any testimony here given by any of the Rosses (plaintiff’s representatives) upon whether or not Mr. Kamper had authority beyond that which was within the natural scope of his authority as an architect, it is not revealed; that is, I mean to say that the testimony does not reveal anything beyond that. Therefore no action can be held against Mr. Blesch upon these representations even if they were made.”
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MICHIGAN LUMBER YARD v. BLESCH
- Status
- Published