Vernon D. Cox & Co., Inc. v. Giles
Vernon D. Cox & Co., Inc. v. Giles
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. I would affirm on the opinion of Judge Wesner of the court below.
Opinion of the Court
On March 4, 1974, appellee Vernon D. Cox & Co., Inc., filed a complaint in assumpsit against appellant George E. Giles alleging that the latter had failed to make payments required by contract in the amount of $2,500. A board of arbitrators awarded appellee that sum, and a subsequent jury trial resulted in an identical verdict adverse to appellant. Post-trial motions for a new trial were denied, and appellant now contends that the court below erred in refusing to sustain his demurrer to the evidence.
A demurrer to the evidence in a civil suit has the effect of admitting the truth of all the evidence advanced by the adverse party, and all reasonable and necessary inferences therefrom. McKowen v. McDonald, 43 Pa. 441 (1863); Tucker v. Bitting, 32 Pa. 428 (1859); 6 Standard Pennsylvania Practice 357-58 (I960).
Appellant now maintains that the lower court erred in failing to sustain his demurrer, because the jury could not conclude from the evidence presented that he had personally entered into a contract with appellee. We agree. It is a basic tenet of agency law that an individual acting as an agent for a disclosed principle is not personally liable on a contract between the principle and a third party unless the agent specifically agrees to assume liability. E. g., Revere Press, Inc. v. Blumberg, 431 Pa. 370, 246 A.2d 407 (1968); Geyer v. Huntingdon County Agricultural Assn., 362 Pa. 74, 66 A.2d 249 (1949); Yentis v. Mills, 299 Pa. 25, 148 A. 909 (1930); Restatement (Second) of Agency § 320 (1958).
The Restatement (Second) of Agency § 4 defines a disclosed principal in the following terms: “If, at the time of a transaction conducted by an agent, the other party thereto has notice that the agent is acting for a principal and of the principal’s identity, the principal is a disclosed principal.” See Sweitzer v. Whitehead, 404 Pa. 506, 510, 173 A.2d 116, 119 (1961). The Restatement subsequently explicates that a person has notice of a fact when he has actual knowledge of it, has reason to know it, should know it, or has been given notification of it. Restatement (Second) of Agency § 9. While it would ordinarily be for the trier of fact to determine whether the requisite notice of disclosure existed, to premise individual liability in the present case on the quantum of proof adduced by appellee would substitute conjecture and surmise for proof. Mr. Cox knew of the existence of Le Chateau; he knew that it owned the land to be appraised and that it required the appraisal so as to acquire refinancing. He also knew that appellant was associated with the corporation on the basis of prior dealings. It is clear that on these facts, Mr. Cox knew or should have known that appellant was acting in a representative capacity.
Sweitzer v. Whitehead, supra, is factually similar and controls this appeal. In Sweitzer, Messrs. Whitehead and Land, defendants, attended an auction organized by Messrs. Sweitzer and Mele, plaintiffs. At the conclusion of the
An agreement was reached and the equipment was shipped to the Land-Whitehead Equipment Co. The equipment was never sold, and when the plaintiffs retook possession, some of the equipment was missing, and the remainder was badly damaged or deteriorated. The defendants offered no explanation for either the missing or damaged equipment. The plaintiffs then brought suit against both Land-Whitehead Equipment Co. and Messrs. Land and Whitehead individually, alleging that the latter two had become personally liable on the contract. The case was tried before a jury, and the plaintiffs recovered a verdict against both the corporate and individual defendants.
On appeal, our supreme court ruled that submission of the agency issue to the jury was erroneous, and judgment non obstante verdicto should properly have been entered for the individual defendants:
“Outside of the introduction of Land by Whitehead as a partner and the designation of ‘Land-Whitehead Equipment’ as ‘Co.’, without any designation of the latter as a corporation, there is nothing on this record which could possibly justify the assumption that appellees dealt with Whitehead and Land as individuals rather than as representatives of Land-Whitehead Equipment Co. Under such circumstances the evidence falls short of justifying its submission to a jury to determine whether reliance in the transaction was placed on the individuals as such rather than the entity. A reading of the evidence in its entirety*418 and in the light most favorable to appellees indicates that it falls within the requirements of § 4(1) of the Restatement (2d), Agency. ‘If, at the time of a transaction conducted by an agent, the other party thereto has notice that the agent is acting for a principal and of the principal’s identity the principal is a disclosed principal’.
When the name card was handed to Sweitzer bearing the name thereon of the entity Sweitzer knew or should have known that Whitehead was acting in a representative capacity. The mere statement that Land was Whitehead’s partner created no partnership or justified Sweitzer in assuming the existence of a partnership in view of all the other circumstances.” Sweitzer v. Whitehead, supra, 404 Pa. at 510, 173 A.2d at 118-19 (emphasis in original). Instantly, the indicia of agency are more persuasive than
those in Sweitzer. Although in both instances the defendants failed to specifically delineate their relationship with their firm, Mr. Cox here possessed not only the same type of information present in Sweitzer, i. e., that a corporation existed and that some connection existed between the defendants and the corporation, but that the appraisal was necessitated by a corporate requirement and that the corporation owned the land which was being appraised.
This situation is distinguishable from those such as Delaware Valley Equipment Company, Inc. v. Granahan, 409 F.Supp. 1011 (E.D.Pa. 1976). In that case, Mr. Granahan contracted with an agent of the plaintiff for the purchase of a fork-lift truck. During negotiations, Mr. Granahan failed to disclose that he was acting as an agent for his company, Advance Masonry, Inc. The quotation and invoices were signed by Mr. Granahan personally with no indication of an agency relationship. Invoices were addressed at Mr. Granahan’s instance to Advance Masonry rather than Advance Masonry, Inc.
In the present case, unlike Delaware Valley, Mr. Cox was conscious of the corporate existence, its purposes, and of appellant’s connection with it. As in Sweitzer, this evidence did not justify submission of the issue to the jury.
The order of the lower court is therefore reversed.
. Appellant also contends that: (1) the verdict was not in accord with the weight of the evidence or the law; and (2) the court below erred in refusing to grant one of appellant’s point for charge. Because of our disposition of appellant’s initial argument, we do not reach the merits of these issues.
. The demurrer to the evidence in civil actions is rarely resorted to in modern practice, having been all but superseded by the motion for compulsory non-suit. Nevertheless, it has been held that the two procedures are in practical effect identical. See Stinson v. Smith, 329 Pa. 177, 196 A. 843 (1938); 6 Standard Pennsylvania Practice 357-58 (1960).
. Appellant also argues that the demurrer should be sustained because of a variance in the dates of the alleged contract as stated in the amended complaint and as testified to by Mr. Cox during cross-examination. Specifically, the amended complaint places contract formation on or about March 15, 1972. Mr. Cox, however, testified as follows on cross-examination:
“Q. [Counsel for Appellant] Do you know specifically when it [formation of a contract for appraisal] occurred?
A. I think my notes show about March the 7th.
Q. March the 7th?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So it wasn’t March 15?
A. March 15 is the date as of the valuation date. That has nothing to do with the contract as such.”
N.T. 13.
Nevertheless, Mr. Cox subsequently testified, still on cross-examination, that as of March 8, 1972, there was no contract between appellant and Mr. Cox’s corporation to perform the appraisal. N.T.
At any rate, the testimony indicates that the time stated on the amended complaint was sufficiently specific to obviate any risk that appellant was deceived by the date advanced. Pleadings should be liberally construed, and it is generally not necessary to aver the specific date of contract formation if no confusion is engendered by the lack of specificity. See 2A Anderson, Pennsylvania Civil Practice § 1019.61 (1869). Moreover, when passing on a demurrer to the evidence, variances between pleadings and proof will not be critically examined. See Emerick v. Kroh, 14 Pa. 315 (1850).
. The fact that a corporate officer cannot be held personally liable on contracts entered into while acting in his corporate capacity is a particular application of this principle. See Revere Press, Inc. v.
. There is no dispute that appellant possessed actual authority from Le Chateau to negotiate and sign the contract in question.
. We recognize that in the instant case bills were sent to appellant personally, but do not believe this point to be of substantial weight.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- VERNON D. COX & CO., INC. v. George E. GILES, Appellant
- Cited By
- 29 cases
- Status
- Published