Sefler v. Union Furniture Co.
Sefler v. Union Furniture Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
That the plaintiff was the owner of certain premises which she had demised to one Johnston; that he had permitted his rent to become in arrears; that a landlord’s warrant was issued and a levy made upon the personal property in the possession of the tenant on the demised premises; that this levy embraced
When summoned to respond in damages for this alleged unlawful removal the defendant took defense, first, on the ground that it had not removed the goods because even if that removal were effected by means of its agents, employees, team and wagon, and subsequently accrued to its advantage, its president and chief executive officer had neither authorized nor ratified the action of his subordinates. The learned court below fairly submitted this question to the jury on evidence that we regard as amply sufficient to sustain their finding that the defendant removed the goods after notice of the levy. It is not denied that Shafer, the collecting agent, knew of the distress. He says he read the notice which, with the list of the property levied on, was affixed to the door. He acquired this knowledge in the exact line of the duty he owed to his principal. Not only so, but he immediately communicated this knowledge to Schmidt, the secretary, treasurer and bookkeeper of the defendant, from whom he generally received his orders what to do, and Schmidt “told me to go and get the goods.” There were many corroborating facts we need not stop to mention. It is sufficient to say that in our judgment the verdict was fully supported by the evidence.
The only other matter of defense urged was that the levy was invalid because of some defect in the notice. We can find no evidence in the record of any such defect as would vitiate the levy. The constable who made it testified that he had made a schedule of the goods and then “I put on a regular levy paper. Q. What was that? A. Why, what any constable has, the regular form. Q. And you made out this list after-
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.