Spokane & Idaho Lumber Co. v. Boyd
Spokane & Idaho Lumber Co. v. Boyd
Opinion of the Court
— This action was brought by respondent against the principal and his sureties to recover on a statutory bond given by a contractor to secure payment to laborers and material men for labor and material furnished in the construction of a bridge for the city of Spokane. Respondent recovered judgment for the amount prayed, and two of the sureties appeal.
This case, upon a former appeal to this court (see Spokane & Idaho Lumber Co. v. Loy, 21 Wash. 501, 58 Pac. 672), was reversed for the reason that three of tké appellants at that time were not shown to have consented to an assignment of the contract, and were therefore not liable for materials furnished by respondent after the assignment thereof. It was held that the trial court erred in directing judgment for the respondent for substantially the whole amount claimed. The cause was remanded for further proceedings. When the cause was returned to the superior court, appellants Boyd and Dishman applied for and obtained leave of the lower court to file amended answers to the complaint. These answers denied the contract alleged in the complaint and the balance due, and alleged affirmative defenses substantially as follows: (1) Payment. (2) Payment by appellants in excess of their liability under the bond. (3) That the bond sued on is not the bond required by statute. (4) Fraud and deceit of Loy and the city officials in securing these appellants’ signatures to the bond, coupled with ignorance of the facts until after action was commenced. (5) Insanity and irresponsibility of Loy at the time the contract was made. (6) Failure of Loy to perform work after he had received two-thirds of the price; fraudulent withholding by the city officials of knowledge of Loy’s insanity from appel
The facts are substantially as follows: Defendant George J. Loy on February 18, 1897, entered into a contract with the city of Spokane to furnish material and construct for said city a bridge known as the “Olive Street Bridge,” at the agreed price of $5,000. When this contract was let to Mr. Loy, the city required him to execute a bond to the state of Washington conditioned for the payment of all labor and material used in the construction of the bridge. These appellants and others executed and delivered the inquired bond, which is the bond sued on here. Respondent furnished lumber which was used in the bridge to the value of $1,200.33; $717.83 was paid, leaving a balance of $182.50. Respondent demanded the payment, which was refused. After the contract and bond had been entered into, and after the bridge was partially constructed, Loy assigned the- contract to J. H. Boyd, one of the appellants and one of the sureties on the bond. Boyd completed the construction of the bridge. Appellant Bergman and others of the sureties consented to the assignment of the contract. Soon after this assignment, Loy became insane.
1 It is claimed now that the court erred in- denying appellants’ application to have the city of Spokane and the
The cases cited by appellants are cases of equitable jurisdiction, or where the parties are jointly interested, and consequently do not apply here. In this case the respondent must recover under the bond against these particular appellants, or fail in the action. The fact that respondent may have a right of action against others for the same cause can be no defense in this action. It was not error to refuse to make the city or the National Iron Works a party defendant.
It is next complained that the trial court erred in excluding evidence offered by appellants in support of their several defenses. Appellants offered evidence to show that Boyd, after the assignment of the contract to him, was compelled to, and did, pay out much more than was coming from the city upon the contract, and in excess thereof more than his liability upon the bond. This evidence was clearly inadmissible, because Boyd assumed the contract and undertook to complete it himself. He was clearly liable for all losses sustained thereunder. If there
After a carefnl examination of the record, we conclude no error was committed by the trial court, and the judgment is therefore affirmed.
Heavis, C. J., and Anders, Dunbar, White, Fullerton and Hadley, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.