H. Rouw Co. v. Gaylord Container Division of Crown Zellerbach Corp.

385 S.W.2d 481, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2451
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided November 25, 1964·No. No. 88·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

GREEN, Chief Justice.

Appeal is from a summary judgment for appellee, plaintiff below, on a promissory note, which judgment also refused relief to appellant, defendant below, on its cross-action. We reverse and remand.

Appellee does not deny that a genuine issue of fact exists as to failure of consideration for the original indebtedness on open account. The question before us is whether, under the summary judgment “evidence”, it is established as a matter of law that appellant has waived its defense of failure of consideration.

In passing upon the merits of this appeal, we shall be guided by the fundamental rules of summary judgments, that all doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue of a material fact must be resolved against the moving party (appellee), and that the opposite party (appellant) is entitled to the benefit of every reasonable [482] inference which can properly he drawn in its favor. Womack v. Allstate Insurance Company, 156 Tex. 467, 296 S.W.2d 233; Bolin v. Tenneco Oil Co. et al., Tex.Civ.App., 373 S.W.2d 350, writ ref. n. r. e. Where in this opinion we discuss certain facts of the case, we do not intend to say that such matters have been established as actually true, since courts in summary judgment proceedings do not pass upon the credibility of the witnesses or the truth of matters stated in sworn pleadings or affidavits, but consider only whether genuine issues of material facts are raised by the record. Gulbenkian v. Penn, 151 Tex. 412, 252 S.W.2d 929.

In 1955, appellee sold and delivered to appellant on open account a large number of cardboard cartons to be used by appellant in its business of packing and shipping perishable vegetables. According to appellant’s sworn pleadings and affidavit, and not denied in the record by appellee, the cartons delivered were not as ordered, were defective in size and tensile strength so that they did not comply with carriers requirements in the shipment of perishable vegetables, and many were delivered too late to be of any use to appellant. Because of their defective condition, appellant was .unable to use them, and the cartons are still in appellant’s warehouse in the same condition as when delivered by appellee. Appellant' has on many occasions tendered them back to appellee, and still tenders them, but appellee has refused to accept them.

In August, 1956, appellant, with full knowledge of the facts concerning the cartons, executed and delivered to appellee in payment for said cartons three notes totaling $18,148.62. Some payments were made on these notes, so that in July, 1962, the amount was reduced to $17,138.62, and at that time appellant executed the note here sued on in that amount in renewal of the three notes of August, 1956. Appellant in its sworn answer to the motion for summary judgment and by affidavit of H. Rouw, its president, states that during this entire period, including the time of the execution of the first three notes, Rouw was vigorously protesting the consideration for the notes, and insisting either that ap-pellee take back the cartons in payment of the debt, or exchange new cartons meeting appellants’ requirements in the packing and shipping of perishable vegetables for the worthless ones. At the time of the execution and delivery of the note here sued on, according to appellant’s sworn pleadings and Rouw’s affidavit, appellee received said note knowing of the complaints about the cartons, and knowing that appellant expected a satisfactory settlement to be made on the note by an exchange of usable cartons for the bad ones.

In addition to its sworn plea of failure of consideration, appellant filed a cross-action in answer to appellee’s petition. In this pleading, filed defensively in the nature of a counterclaim or set-off in the event ap-pellee should recover judgment on the note, appellant specifically plead that the 1962 note, and also the 1956 notes, were signed and delivered by it in view of an express understanding between appellant and appellee that a satisfactory settlement would be made between them, and that appellee would accept a return of the old cartons in exchange for cartons meeting the requirements of appellant in the shipment of perishable vegetables. A breach of this agreement is alleged, by reason of which it is stated that appellant will suffer damages in the amount that it may have to pay for cartons which have no value to appellant; and the pleading prays for damages for whatever sum appellee may recover on the note. A denial of any fight of appellant to have a trial on the merits of this cross-action was included within the terms of the summary judgment.

In support of the summary judgment, appellee contends that when appellant executed and delivered the notes in August, 1956, with full knowledge of the defects [483] in the merchandise purchased the year before, and again in July, 1962, when appellant executed the note sued on in renewal of the balance due on the 1956 notes, with full knowledge of all facts alleged in defense, appellant waived the defense of failure of consideration as a matter of law.

As authority for its position, appellee relies upon the holding of the Supreme Court of Texas in Hunter et al. v. Lanius et al., 82 Tex. 677, 18 S.W. 201, and on subsequent cases quoting and following that decision. We quote from Hunter v. Lanius, the rule depended upon by appellee as follows:

“Where one executes an obligation in renewal of a note claimed by the holder to be valid, but known to the maker to be fraudulent or without consideration, the latter will be deemed to have freed the transaction of the fraud, and to have waived the want of consideration, and will not be permitted to plead it. So, a note is supported by a sufficient consideration, if executed to secure the abandonment of a suit brought to enforce a doubtful right, or in compromise of a disputed claim made in good faith, though it ultimately appears that the claim was without merit. Keefe v. Vogle, 36 Iowa, 87; Babcock v. Hawkins, 23 Vt. 561; 1 Daniel, Neg.Inst. § 205; 1 Add.Cont. § 14.”

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H. Rouw Co. v. Gaylord Container Division of Crown Zellerbach Corp., 385 S.W.2d 481, 1964 Tex. App. LEXIS 2451 (Tex. Ct. App. 1964).

385 S.W.2d 481 (H. Rouw Co. v. Gaylord Container Division of Crown Zellerbach Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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