Hall-Moody Institute v. Copass

69 S.W. 327, 108 Tenn. 582
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedMay 10, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 69 S.W. 327 (Hall-Moody Institute v. Copass) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall-Moody Institute v. Copass, 69 S.W. 327, 108 Tenn. 582 (Tenn. 1902).

Opinion

Wilkes, J.

This is an action for damages arising out of the discharge of the plaintiff, Prances Copass, as a teacher in the Hall-Moody Institute, of Martin, Tennessee. It was commenced before a Justice of the Peace of Weak-ley County. On appeal to the Circuit Court, there was a verdict and judgment for $215 in favor of the plaintiff, and the Institute has appealed to this Court and assigned errors.

It is said that it was error in the Court below to instruct the jury that the Institute could be held liable by judgment for the discharge of the plaintiff by the trustees of the school. The argument is that the Institute is an eleemosynary institution, and hence not liable to judgment. The [585]*585contention might and probably would be correct if this were a suit for a tort committed by the trustees, but the action is not one of tort, but for a breach of contract, whereby the trustees agreed upon the part of the Institute to pay the plaintiff a stipulated salary for her personal services as teacher. It appears that the Institute is chartered under the laws of the State as an educational corporation, with power to sue- and be sued, and is operated in the interest of the education of boys and girls, and not for the purpose of making money. The trustees make contracts with principals and teachers, and the latter are to be paid out of the tuition fees received from the pupils, and any deficit there may be is made up out of their own pockets. Under this statement of facts, the trial Court was correct in charging that the corporation would be liable for the contracts made by its trustees, and such contracts would be enforced in the same manner and to the same extent as if made by individuals.

It is said the trial Judge erred in charging as follows: “Unless the contract so provided, the Board of Trustees would not have the right and power to adopt a rule or by-law prescribing that the plaintiff, as one of the teachers,' should not receive callers or have company during the school days, say from Monday morning to Eriday afternoon, nor to adopt a rule prescribing that she [586]*586should not have company in the parlor of evenings later than 10:30 or 11 o’clock. Such a rule, or regulation, or by-law, as either of these would be regarded in law as arbitrary, unreasonable, and oppressive, and could not be upheld or enforced, and the plaintiff would have the legal right to ignore them or refuse compliance with them. The Board of Trustees would not have the right to discharge the plaintiff for her refusal to obey or comply with such rules as these, and if they did so discharge her for this reason alone, the defendant would be guilty of a breach of its contract, and would be liable to the plaintiff therefor.” This is an excerpt from the trial Judge’s charge, and, taken separately and aJ one, does not do justice to his instructions. .Following the language complained of, and as a part of the same instructions, the Court said: “While this is true, yet the plaintiff, under her contract, owed to the defendant as a teacher her loyal support, her faithful service, her most efficient work, and she could not lawfully and rightfully engage in such social functions or devote so much of her time and attention to social pleasures, or engage in such other work, conduct, or practices, as would impair her usefulness and efficiency as a teacher, or, as when properly understood and interpreted, would injure ¡he school or interfere with the discipline of its [587]*587pupils, or tend to damage its reputation and character as an institution of learning.”

Immediately preceding the part of the charge complained of, the trial Judge said: “The defendant would have the right, under the law, to discharge the plaintiff and terminate her connection with said school for any reasonable cause, but not arbitrarily and without a good cause. It had the right to discharge her for incompetency as a teacher, if the fact existed, or for her insubordination or refusal to carry out or comply with or conform to any reasonable by-laws or regulations made and adopted by the Board of Trustees, or by the President of the faculty under and by the direction of said Board, or it would have the right to dismiss her from the school and terminate her connection therewith for immorality, immodest, or unladylike conduct and behavior, or for any improper, immodest, and unbecoming conduct such as would be likely to he hurtful or injurious to the reputation or standing of the school, or to impede and prevent or interfere with the proper progress of its pupils or their proper discipline and training. But under these principles the Board of Trustees would not have the right to interfere with her social relations or her right to receive and entertain her friends, or with the time at which she should dismiss them of evenings, so long as her actions [588]*588and -conduct in these particulars were usual, chaste, proper, ladylike, and becoming a lady in her position in life, and not hurtful nor injurious to the school, nor incompatible with her duties as a teacher in said school under the contract.” Then followed the portion of the charge complained of.

We think this a very clear, correct, and lucid statement of the relations of the teacher to the school, and a fair and a full exposition of the duties that may be demanded of the teacher by the Trustees in the absence of any special contract prescribing otherwise. It is insisted by the Institute that it was a rule of the school that teachers, as well as pupils, should not attend social functions or go into society while connected with the school, but this, we think, is not sustained by the record, but the most that can be said is, that it was the policy of the school that there should be no excesses in this direction, but that both teachers and pupils should be circumspect in their relations to society and not allow their social pleasures and indulgences to interfere with their work. The question of what is excessive will be treated under another assignment, that there is no evidence to support the verdict.

It is next said the Court erred in saying: “If she was guilty of going into society or of keeping late hours in company of young men, or going with them to such questionable places [589]*589as was likely to cause her reputation as a lady to be called into question, or as would impair her ability and efficiency as a teacher, or disqualify ber to perform her duties as well as sbe might otherwise have done her duties as a teacher, then the Board of Trustees would have the right to dismiss her and terminate its contract with her for these reasons.” It is said that this portion of the .charge is incorrect in that it misled the jury into supposing that she was charged with conduct unbecoming a lady, and was guilty of immoral or unchaste conduct, when no such charge was intended, nor was such a question involved in the case, but the only question was whether she neglected her duties and was inefficient in their discharge, and whether she indulged in social functions to such an extent as to impair her influence and efficiency as a teacher.

We are of the opinion the range of examination of witnesses in this case justified and called for the charg’e given.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
69 S.W. 327, 108 Tenn. 582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-moody-institute-v-copass-tenn-1902.