Mayer v. Wilson
Mayer v. Wilson
Opinion of the Court
This action was for liquors sold to the firm of B. C. Wilson & Company. The defendants were sued as partners and proprietors of the Seventh Avenue Hotel in the City of Pittsburgh. The defense of Shreffler was that he had not been a member of the said firm, and that was the disputed question of fact for the jury. Under the evidence submitted to them, their finding that he was a partner was fully justified. A specimen of the proof showing this was the application for a license to sell liquors at the Seventh Avenue Hotel. It set forth on its face that Wilson & Shreffler were partners, and they both signed it. Beneath their signatures these words were added, “Trading as B. C. Wilson & Co.” To escape from the clear proof of partnership in fact, counsel for appellant contends that he was not a partner in law, in view of a written agreement between him and Wilson as to participation in the profits. In support of this the Act of June 15, 1871, P. L. 389, is cited. That act is
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Partnerships — Partnership by estoppel — Sharing of profits by employees — Manager of hotel business — Act of June 15,1871, P. L. 889. 1. In an action against two alleged partners, as proprietors of a hotel, for the price of liquors sold and delivered, where the defense of one of the defendants was that he was not a member but merely a manager receiving in addition to his salary a portion of the profits, the case is for the jury where it appears that prior to the time of the sale, an application for a license to sell liquors at the hotel set forth that the defendants were partners, and had beneath the signatures of both defendants to the application the words “trading as” followed by the company’s name. 2. Tbe Act of June 15, 1871, P. L. 389, entitled “An Act to Promote Industrial Partnerships” does not apply to the employees of those engaged in the sale of liquors and the management of hotels. The legislative intent was to confine the statute’s provisions to the business of manufacturing, or other business employing labor, as the use of that word is generally understood, and to enable employers of such labor to give additional compensation to their employees without making those employees liable for the indebtedness of the business.