Northern Timber Products Co. v. Stone-Ordean-Wells Co.
Northern Timber Products Co. v. Stone-Ordean-Wells Co.
Opinion of the Court
As a so-called second cause of action it is alleged that the property was taken from the possession of one who was the agent of the plaintiff, a fact "which was well known to defendants, or they could and should have known the same;” that defendant Stone-Ordean-Wells Company had a large claim against Eklund & Wetherby and conceived the idea that it would compel plaintiff to pay the debt and had the sheriff attach the property of plaintiff in order to compel plaintiff to pay said debt; that by reason of the attachment plaintiff was unable to perform contracts which it had made for the sale of said timber; that the attachment caused it to keep idle ah employee who was under pay; that it injured plaintiff’s credit, and that plaintiff is also entitled to "interest on the value of the timber during the period of attachment.”
Defendant demurred on the ground that the complaint failed to state a cause of action and that several causes of action were improperly united. The trial court sustained the demurrer to the complaint and in a
The so-called second cause of action relates entirely to allegations of damages. Most of the allegations are insufficient.
The alleged damage to plaintiff's business and credit is too remote for recovery. O'Neill v. Johnson, 53 Minn. 439, 55 N. W. 601, 39 Am. St. 615; Casper v. Klippen, 61 Minn. 353, 63 N. W. 737, 52 Am. St. 604; Sutherland, Damages, §§ 512, 513.
The complaint falls far short of alleging the facts essential to the recovery of punitive damages. Vine v. Casmey, 86 Minn. 74, 90 N. W. 158; Anderson v. International Harvester Co. 104 Minn. 49, 116 N. W. 101, 16 L.R.A. (N.S.) 440.
Plaintiff, however, alleges a detention of the property by attachment, and claims as damages “interest on the value of the timber during the period of attachment." This, crudely stated, is in substance an allegation and claim of damages for the value of the use of the property by reason of its detention, and it is an assertion of a claim against both defendants.
Stripped of its much redundant matter the complaint states a cause of action in replevin for the recovery of personal property and for dam
Order reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- NORTHERN TIMBER PRODUCTS COMPANY v. STONE-ORDEAN-WELLS COMPANY AND ANOTHER
- Status
- Published