Harless v. Haile
Harless v. Haile
Opinion of the Court
L. G. Wilhite instituted suit against C. C. Haile and C. L. Harless alleging that during the year 1912 plaintiff and the defendants were acting as agents for the Guaranty Investment Company in the sale of stock in the Great Western Loan & Trust Company, and for their services and as compensation therefor were to receive 15 per cent, of the amount of the capital stock of the trust company sold. He alleges that he and Ilaile entered into an agreement that they would both endeavor to sell said capital stock, and that upon the sale by either of them to purchasers whom they might find for the stock they were to divide equally the 15 per cent. Under the agreement plaintiff negotiated a sale of the stock to' Mrs. Goss, C. D. Bird, P. Chandler, and a Mr. Smith, and while the matter of sale was pending, but before completed, plaintiff left the country, and the matter of closing the sales with the defendant C. C. Haile, it being agreed in consideration of the services rendered by plaintiff in the negotiations with the parties above named, and other prospective sales then pending, that plaintiff was to receive one-lialf of the commission in case of the consummation of the sale • to either party. He alleged thereafter Haile, under the agreement, sold to Mrs. Goss $3,000 of the stock and the commission therefor was $225; that defendant Plarless and Haile sold to Bird $4,000, to Chandler $5,000 of the stock, upon which there was a commission of $1,350; and that afterwards Harless, acting surreptitiously, and without his or Haile’s knowledge, sold $4,000 to Smith, on which there was a commission of $600 due under the agreement. That he and Haile were acting in partnership as brokers and were the procuring cause of the sale in each and every instance of all the stock above alleged and as heretofore set out. That Harless was employed by said Haile only for the purpose of consummating sales, and that Harless is entitled to such remuneration as Haile agreed to pay him for his services, chargeable as an expense to said partnership business. It is alleged that Harless took no part in the sale to Mrs. Goss, but that he collected $112 thereof, which should have been paid to the plaintiff, and that both Ilarless and Haile are severally and jointly holding the commissions on the sale to Bird and Chandler, and are liable to plaintiff for his part. That he is entitled to recover against both defendants, as the facts may show, one-half of the $225 on the sale to Mrs. Goss, and one-half of the full amount earned on the sales to Bird and Chandler, less the amount agreed to be paid Harless by Haile, which plaintiff is informed is one-half of the commission earned. That he is entitled to recover from Harless one-half of the commission on the sale to Smith less the charges and expenses incurred for the service in making the same. He asked for judgment for his commission jointly and severally against the defendants and that defendants be required to make an accounting of the sale to the parties named.
The plaintiff in this case also garnished the Guaranty Investment Company and Harless, requiring them to answer what, if anything, they were indebted to Haile. The defendant Haile alleged that he and the plaintiff entered into an agreement that they both would endeavor to sell said capital stock to any and all buyers whom they or either of them might find for the stock, and that upon all sales of stock made by either or both of them while working together the 15 per cent, commission should be divided equally between them. He denied that plaintiff was the procuring cause of the sale to Mrs. Goss and others, and alleged that his efforts wholly failed to make such sales. That he did assist in selling $1,000 of the stock to Bird, the commission on which was $150; $75 thereof was paid to plaintiff and the other to Haile, and no other sale was made to Bird, either by the individual efforts of plaintiff or by the joint efforts of plaintiff and Haile. That plaintiff made an effort to sell to Chandler, but wholly failed and none was sold to Chandler while they were acting together. It is admitted by Haile that he and plaintiff sold $1,000 of the stock to Smith, but failed at that time to sell him more. That the plaintiff left while the above negotiations were pending, and that he collected all the commission on sales made by him and Haile, and put forth no further efforts towards closing up any contract for the sale of stock to the said parties. That plaintiff did no other acts for the joint benefit of plaintiff and Ilaile, but sold stock at other points and refused to divide commissions, etc. That Haile diligently attempted to close up the sale of the stock to the parties named, but was unable to do so, and plaintiff having left the territory, it became necessary to procure other assistance and the agreement *1022 between Mm and plaintiff came to an end. ■That they had failed to sell to the parties except $1,000 each to Bird and Smith, and Haile reported the condition to their employer, the guaranty company, and requested the president of the company to come or' send some one to induce Chandler, Smith, and Bird to buy other stock. In response thereto the company sent Harless, with whom and by their joint efforts, they made' sale to Bird .of $4,000 in addition to the $1,000 theretofore sold, and plaintiff is not entitled to one-half of the $600 commission on that sale. That Harless, the codefendant, collected all of the $600 commission on the sale to Bird, which included the $300 due Haile, and appropriated it to his (Harless) own use. That Harless and Haile, by their joint efforts, sold to Chandler $2,000 of the stock, and that there was due them $300 commission, which Harless collected and appropriated to his own use, one-half of which ($150) was Haile’s. That Haile and Harless induced Bird and Chandler to go to Sweetwater, where they could see and negotiate with the higher officials of the guaranty company, and that they paid the expenses of these parties on the trip, and while there Harless, through the joint efforts of Haile and ílarless, sold Chandler $3,000 of the stock. Their commission on the sale was $450, and that Harless appropriated the same, $225 of which belonged to Haile. That they sold to Smith, $4,000, upon which there was $600 commission, all of which Harless appropriated. That Haile made a sale of $2,000 to Mrs. Goss, for which he was entitled to a commission of $450. Plaintiff claimed one-half and Harless one-half thereof, and to satisfy each he paid their employer company one-half and it paid to each plaintiff and Harless one-half thereof in full settlement of their respective claims, and that Haile retained the other one-half, and now retains $225 of the $450 in his own right. That neither plaintiff nor Harless earned any part of it. He prayed that plaintiff and Harless be required to pay in court each $112 that they received on the Goss sale in order that it may be paid to the proper party.
There is a general allegation in his cross-petition that Haile and Harless worked together under an agreement to divide • the commission. Haile prays for judgment that plaintiff take nothing and for actual and exemplary damages against plaintiff for wrongfully suing out the writs of garnishment; that in case Harless • should be entitled to $112.50 paid the Guaranty Company that he have judgment against plaintiff for that sum; that he have a judgment against Harless for $1,087, with interest.
The defendant Harless answered by general and special exceptions, specially excepting to the action against him by the plaintiff and defendant Haile because there was a misjoin-der of causes of action and because the same was multifarious. He denied each and all the allegations of both plaintiff and Haile, and, quoting from appellant’s brief, alleged:
“That on or about January 2, 1913, as agent for the Guaranty Investment Company, he went to Dickens county, Tex., and that immediately after his arrival he and defendant Haile entered into a contract whereby they were to divide commissions equally on all stock each or both sold while they were both working together, and that during the existence of said contract, the defendant Harless sold $4,000 worth of stock to said Bird and $2,000 worth to P. Chandler, and the defendant Haile sold $3,000 worth to Mrs. Goss. That the defendant Harless only collected his half of the commission out of the Bird sale, and the defendant Haije refused to give the defendant Harless but $112.50 out of the Goss sale, even though the defendant Harless was entitled to $225, and that when Haile refused to give him but $112.50 he retained $112.50 out of commissions derived from the $2,000 stock sold to P. Chandler. That defendant Harless collected $300 as commission out of the said Chandler sale, out of which $150 was due Haile had he divided the commissions derived from the Goss sale equally, but, having failed to do so, defendant Harless retained $112.50 out of the $150 due Haile, leaving $37.50 due defendant Haile by defendant Harless, which defendant Harless tendered defendant Haile, and which defendant Haile refused to accept. That the aforesaid contract between the defendants Haile and Harless came to an end and thereafter defendant Planless, acting for himself, sold to P. Chandler $3,000 worth of additional stock; and thereafter defendant Harless and one C. E. Mathews,’acting for themselves, sold $4,000 worth of stock to J. H. Smith, the commission derived from which sale was divided equally between the defendant Harless and said Mathews. That the defendant Harless never agreed to divide commissions derived from the last Chandler sale and the Smith sale with either the plaintiff or the defendant Haile. Defendant Harless prayed that neither the plaintiff nor defendant Haile recover from him any sum whatsoever in this cause and for all costs of suit.
.“The case was submitted to the jury on special issues and thereafter a judgment was rendered upon the findings of the jury: (1) That plaintiff recover from the defendant Haile $122.-06 with 6 per cent, interest from date of judgment; (2) that defendant Haile recover from plaintiff $68.0$, and that said $68.03 be credited on plaintiff’s judgment against defendant Haile; (3) that defendant Haile recover from defendant Harless $1,143.43, and all costs of suit; and (4) that plaintiff recover nothing from defendant Harless.”
The pleadings of the parties, taken together, show a controversy over the commissions earned upon certain sales to named parties. The plaintiff sought to show one- *1023 half of these commissions were his by virtue of an agreement entitling him thereto. He alleges that Harless was, by Haile, brought in to assist in the sales and that the amounts paid him were to be charged as expenses to the partnership, and that the amount Haile agreed to pay him should be so charged. Both defendants in substance denied any such agreement, and both set up in effect that Wilhite was not entitled to participate in certain commissions earned and, if not in terms, in effect, set up an agreement by virtue of which Haile and Harless should share equally in the commissions so earned. It was, we think, proper for plaintiff to bring in both defendants and have the rights of each determined in the suit. If he was entitled to recover under his alleged agreement, then he would, if the facts warranted it, be entitled to a joint and several judg-! ment against them, as the case might be, and if one of the defendants collected more than his share of the earnings he should be made to respond to the other and a cross-petition to that effect would be proper. Where the interest of a person is necessarily affected by a suit, he is a necessary party, whether he is benefited or not. Where the ■ interest is joint all the parties in interest to be in any way affected by the decree or judgment sought to be obtained should be made parties. Cook v. Pollard, 70 Tex. 723, 8 S. W. 512; Pendleton v. Ferguson, 99 Tex. 296, 89 S. W. 758.
We think the judgment should be reformed and, as reformed, affirmed. The judgment will be here rendered for the amount recov *1025 ered in the court below, less the sum oí $300, with interest thereon at the rate of 6 per cent, from the 1st day of January, 1914, and up to the date of the judgment in the court below. The total amount of the credit, including principal and interest, made by us, is $307.-50. The judgment of the lower court will be reformed and affirmed with the costs of this appeal taxed against the appellee, Haile.
Reformed and affirmed.
@r=Eor other oases see same topic and KEY-NUMBER in ail Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes
<3fc»For otter oases see same topic and KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes
Reference
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- HARLESS v. HAILE Et Al.
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