McCartney v. Berlin
McCartney v. Berlin
Opinion of the Court
The petition alleged that on the first day of May,, 1886, the plaintiff and the defendant, M. Agnes Berlin, entered into copartnership under the name and style of E. F. McCartney & Co., for the purpose of buying and selling ladies’ and children’s suits, cloaks, mantles, shawls, and such other goods and commodities as belong to that line of trade; that upon said day they commenced the transaction'of the said business as such copartnership in the city of Omaha, and continued the said business up to the 11th day of December, 1886, when the same was suspended and broken up as in said petition set forth.
Second — That by the terms of agreement in accordance with which the said copartnership was entered into, it was among other things provided that the profits arising from said business should be equally divided between the said plaintiff and defendant, and further, that the said defendant should pay to the said plaintiff, in addition to her share of the profits aforesaid, a sum equal to 25 per cent of the profits of the said business; provided, however, that the total amount of said percentage should not exceed $1,500 for one year, that being the length of time which
Third — That from the beginning the said business was prosperous and profitable and was gradually becoming established in the confidence of the business public, and the business of said partnership was steadily increasing; that the average monthly sales thereof from the 1st day of May, 1886, to the 11th day of December, 1886, were nearly $3,000, and would have been thereafter, if the business had not been interrupted and broken up,-as in said petition thereinafter alleged; that the net profits of said business during said time averaged about $500 per month.
Fourth — That a long time prior to the 11th day of December, 1886, and subsequent thereto, the said M. Agnes Berlin and the defendant A. H. Baker, who is her brother-in-law, fraudulently, wrongfully, maliciously and unlawfully colluded, conspired, and confederated together for the purpose of forcing, compelling, and bull-dozing the plaintiff into quitting her connection with the said copartnership business and to assign, transfer, and convey all her interest as a member of such copartnership in and to the said copartnership business and the stock of goods, fixtures, and property of every kind, and the good-will thereof to the said M. Agnes Berlin, without any consideration therefor, and in the event of a failure thereof to break up and destroy the said copartnership business, to ruin and render entirely valueless the interest of the plaintiff therein and to ruin and destroy the reputation which the plaintiff at that time bore and theretofore had borne in the city of Omaha and elsewhere for good business judgment and strict integrity, to the end that the said.M. Agnes Berlin might in some way get the sole and exclusive control, management, and ownership of said business and enjoy all the profits thereof.
Fifth — That in pursuance of said collusion, conspiracy, and confederation, and as part of the plan thereof, the said
Sixth — That about the 9th day of December, 1886, the said Baker and M. Agnes Berlin procured the Omaha National Bank to endorse and deliver to said Baker, before it was due, a note which the said bank held against said copartnership, the said M. Agnes Berlin having first applied all the funds of the copartnership then on deposit in the said bank to a part payment of said note, thei’eby making the said Baker a creditor of said firm to the amount of $413, that being the balance of said note remaining unpaid, and to the payment of said balance the said M. Agnes Berlin, without the knowledge or consent
Seventh — That in further pursuance of said collusion, conspiracy, and confederation the said M. Agnes Berlin on or about the 13th day of December, 1886, acting under the advice and at the suggestions of said Baker,'in co-oper-’ ation with him, under the advice of the attorneys of said Baker, without the knowledge or consent of the plaintiff, and without any consultation with her in reference thereto, sent telegrams in the firm name of said copartnership to all the creditors thereof in the city of New York and elsewhere, stating that the said copartnership was in trouble, which statement was untrue, and directing them to wire a statement of tiieir respective claims against said firm to Groff, Montgomery & Jeffrey, a law firm in the city of Omaha, whom the said M. Agnes Berlin and Baker had procured to act as their attorneys. Responsive to such telegrams said creditors sent statements to said Groff, Montgomery & Jeffrey, most of which claims were then not due and would not have been due for a long time thereafter, and none of the creditors to whom said mortgages were given were pressing their claims or insisting on security of any kind therefor, and thereupon the said M. Agnes Berlin, without the knowledge or consent of the plaintiff and without any consultation with her relative thereto, but acting in pursuance of such collusion, conspiracy, and confederation as aforesaid, and under the advice and at the suggestion of the said Baker and his attorneys, executed and delivered a chattel mortgage to each of the said creditors, numbering about twenty-two in all, in the name of the said copartnership upon the stock of goods, merchandise, and all other commodities, together with the fixtures, books of account, bills receivable, and choses in
Eighth — That in further pursuance of said collusion, conspiracy, and confederation the said M. Agnes Berlin and said Baker, acting in conjunction with each other, prior to 8 o’clock A. M. of the 13th day of December, 1886, caused the storeroom where the said copartnership business was being conducted to be closed up, the doors thereof to be bolted, fastened, and barred against and wrongfully, forcibly, and unlawfully excluded the plaintiff therefrom, and wrongfully, forcibly, and unlawfully kept the said storeroom closed up, and the doors thereof nailed fastened and barred against the plaintiff, and the patrons of said business were totally excluded therefrom until the 17th day of December, 1886; the said Baker in the meantime, by himself and one George Mitchell, whom he procured to act as his agent, holding the said stock of goods in his possession in said storeroom, pretending to do so under and by virtue of the chattel mortgages executed and delivered to him as aforesaid, thereby during the said space of time wholly breaking up and suspending the business of the said copartnership. The acts and things so done and performed by defendants were not prompted by motives of good faith or an honest desire to secure to said creditors payment of their respective claims or to further or protect the interests of the said copartnership, but for the sole and only purpose of carrying into effect the object of the conspiracy hereinbefore alleged.
Ninth — That in further pursuance of said collusion, conspiracy, and confederation the said M. Agnes Berlin and Ií. H. Baker, acting in conjunction with each other,
To the above petition the. defendants filed a general demurrer, which demurrer was by the court sustained, and the cause dismissed at the cost of the plaintiff, whereupon
The sole question presented for the consideration of this court is, whether the district court erred in sustaining the said demurrer. I do not doubt that the petition states a cause of action. It charges the defendants with entering into a conspiracy for the purpose of wrecking and breaking up a ■valuable mercantile business of which the plaintiff and one of the defendants were the proprietors as copartners, and it charges and sufficiently sets out the consummation •of the object of such conspiracy by the execution of chattel mortgages to creditors whose debts were not due, stirring up discontent amongst creditors who were otherwise not inclined to demand their pay, and finally by the procuring of a sale and sacrifice of the entire stock in trade of the partnership at a forced sale in which, as is alleged, the damage, loss, and ruin of the partnership and its interest, and not its advantage or welfare was the end sought and attained by the defendants.
Under the authority of Mapstrick v. Ramge, 9 Neb., 391, and Booker v. Puyear, 27 Id., 346, an action for such an injury can be maintained. See also the cases cited in the latter case. The judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Elizabeth McCartney v. M. Agnes Berlin
- Status
- Published