Freyer v. McCord
Freyer v. McCord
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
While the general rule that the principal is liable for his agent’s misrepresentations is unquestionable, as was held in Griswold v. Gebbie, 126 Pa. 353, yet the action of deceit being founded on fraud or moral wrong, to sustain it against the principal on such representations, the fraud should be clear, and there should in addition be some evidence of participation or knowledge on the part of the principal, or circumstances which should have put him upon inquiry. In other words, as said in Griswold v. Gebbie, “the scienter must not only be alleged but proved.” A man may be liable to make good the value of another’s property which he has used, though he may have used it innocently and unwittingly, but he could not be convicted of larceny unless he took it animo furandi, nor can he be punished by damages in deceit for a fraud without evidence that he participated or knew or ought to have known of it. Griswold v. Gebbie was said to be a very close case, but attention was called in the opinion to the fact that the defendant not only knew of the preparation of the deceptive circular by her agent, but had herself given it to some parties who inquired about the property. That element is entirely wanting in the present case. There is no evidence that either the defendant, or Graham her agent to prepare the deed, knew of any fraud, if in fact any fraud was committed. The property was advertised by a sign-board put up on the portion above the road; the part below the road was not fenced and had nothing to indicate that it was part of the same ownership; the deed plainly described the land as above the road, so that the iden
Judgment reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ernest Freyer v. Zelas K. McCord
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Principal and agent—Deceit—Evidence—Fraud. In an action of deceit against a principal to recover damages for misrepresentations made by an agent, the fraud should be clear, and there should be in addition some evidence of participation or knowledge on the part of the principal, or circumstances which should have put him upon inquiry. An action of deceit by a vendee against a vendor, to recover damages for misrepresentation made by the vendor’s agent as to the quantity of land conveyed, cannot be sustained where it appears that the vendor authorized her agent to sell only the laud described in the deed, and no more, and that she had no personal communication with the vendee.