Murphy v. National Paving Co.

281 N.W. 705, 229 Wis. 100, 1938 Wisc. LEXIS 265
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 11, 1938
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 281 N.W. 705 (Murphy v. National Paving Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy v. National Paving Co., 281 N.W. 705, 229 Wis. 100, 1938 Wisc. LEXIS 265 (Wis. 1938).

Opinion

Fowler, J.

From the preceding statement of facts it appears that the defendant surety company is attempting to recover from the impleaded defendant the Badger State Bank the amount it paid the plaintiff Murphy, a subcontractor on public work to whom it was liable on the contractor’s bond given to secure performance of the contract, in satisfaction of his claim against the contractor, on the ground that the bank took payment of a debt owed by the contractor to the bank from a deposit by the contractor of a fund known by the bank to be impressed with a trust for the benefit of laborers and materialmen. The basis of the claim is that the retained percentages in the hands of the city of which the deposit consisted, constituted a trust fund under sub. (4) of sec. 289.53, Stats., which declares that all moneys paid to or becoming due to any principal contractor for public improvements shall be and constitute a trust fund in the hands of the contractor; “the using of such moneys . . . for any purpose other than the payment of all claims on such public improvement so far as such moneys will pay the same is hereby declared to be an embezzlement of said moneys punishable as provided by law in case of embezzlement.” The surety company claims it has traced the portion of the trust fund created by this statute which the bank took in payment of its note into the hands of the bank; that the bank took to itself this portion of the trust fund with knowledge that it was subject to a trust in favor of unpaid persons who furnished material and labor for the job, of whom Mürphy was one; that Murphy had an equitable lien upon that portion of the fund taken by the bank in payment of its note [106]*106which entitled him to payment out of that portion; and the surety company being obligated on its bond to pay Murphy’s claim and having paid it, is by subrogation to Murphy’s rights entitled to- payment out of it.

The statute above cited plainly constituted the retained percentages held by the city a trust fund out of which those furnishing material or labor for the job were entitled to be paid, as far as it would go. That fund was paid by the city to the contractor and by the latter to the bank. The fund was received by the bank with knowledge of the trust, as it was chargeable with knowledge of the statute and its legal effect. The bank appropriated $2,639 of the fund to itself when it took from it payment of its note. Plainly it was liable to Murphy for payment of his claim. 26 R. C. L. pp. 1348, 1351. Just as plainly Murphy’s rights have passed to the surety company by subrogation. Thus the case looks a priori. The judgment must be affirmed unless some of the bank’s contentions which we will take up in order can be sustained.

(1) The appellant claims that sub. (4) of sec. 289.53, Stats., above stated, does not apply to Milwaukee because Milwaukee is a city of the first class and sub. (1) of the section excepts cities of the first class from its operation. The section is a general statute applying to all public work. When it was enacted it contained only three subsections, (1), (2), and (3), which related to the rights of material-men and laborers to liens on the fund constituting the contract price. Cities of the first class were excepted from its operation because the charter of Milwaukee, which was the only city of the first class in the state, contains complete provisions governing the matter of liens upon and application of moneys owing for public improvements in that city. That is why cities of the first class were excepted from its operation. But no reason exists for exempting a city of the [107]*107first class from the operation of sub. (4) and the same reason exists for sub. (4) applying to a city of the first class that exists for applying it to other municipalities, and it cannot be presumed that the legislature intended that the fund owing for public improvements in all other municipalities should constitute a trust fund in them and should not constitute a trust fund in Milwaukee. The reason for excepting Milwaukee from subs. (1), (2), and (3) not applying to sub. (4), the exception falls with the falling of the reason for it.

The trial judge considered sub. (4) an independent statute because subs. (1), (2)-, and (3) apply by their terms to lienable claims only, and sub. (4) is held in Theiler v. Consolidated Indemnity & Ins. Co. 213 Wis. 171, 250 N. W. 433, to apply to nonlienable as well as lienable claims. The limitation of subs. (1), (2), and (3) to lienable claims not applying to sub. (4), no more should the limitation of these subsections to cities other than cities of the first class be applied to sub. (4).

But the history of sub. (4) makes it in effect an independent statute. Sec. 289.53 (1), (2), (3), Stats., was enacted in 1921 by ch. 289, laws of that year. Sub. (4) was enacted in 1929 by ch. 229, laws of that year. Sub. (4) was originally introduced as Bill No. 328, S., as an amendment to sub. (3) of sec. 289.02, Stats., which then read:

“All moneys paid by the owner to the principal contractor shall be and constitute a trust fund in the hands of such principal contractor, to the amount of all claims due from or owing by such principal contractor for work, labor and materials or to become due from or owing by such principal contractor for such work, labor and materials to persons entitled to a lien under this chapter against said owner and his property until all such claims have been paid; the using of such moneys by such principal contractor for any purpose other than the payment of such claims, until all such claims, [108]*108except those which may be in dispute, have been paid, is hereby declared to- be an embezzlement of said moneys punishable as provided by law in case of embezzlement.”

Sub. (3) of sec. 289.02, Stats., which the bill proposed tO' amend related only to private contracts. The only amendment to it that the bill proposed was to insert the words “including money paid on public work” after the word “owner.” The intended effect manifestly was to make the statute making moneys paid to contractors for private work a trust fund for the payment of claims for work and materials applicable to moneys paid for public work. It applied by its terms to all moneys paid for either private or public work. Moneys paid to contractors for work by the city of Milwaukee were not excepted, and were therefore included. The proposal so to amend the statute applicable to private work as to make it applicable to public work was finally accomplished by the enactment of a substituted amendment No. 328, S., creating a new statute which it numbered 289.53 (4) reading as the subsection reads in the present statute.

(2) Appellant claims that sec. 289.53, Stats,, applies only to claims which have been made liens on the fund payable to the contractor, and that as Murphy did not make his claim a lien on that fund he is not entitled to- the benefit of sub. (4). But sub. (4) was construed in Theiler v. Consolidated Indemnity & Ins. Co., supra, as applying to claims growing out of public work not made a lien as well as to such claims made such.

(3) Appellant claims that if sub. (4) does apply to contracts for public '"work in Milwaukee the holding óf this court in Danischefsky v. Klein-Watson Co. 209 Wis. 210, 244 N. W. 772, limits the benefit of the subsection to mate-rialmen and laborers and excludes subcontractors from its benefits. The basis of this claim is a statement in the opin[109]*109ion of the court, page 215, that sub.

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Bluebook (online)
281 N.W. 705, 229 Wis. 100, 1938 Wisc. LEXIS 265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphy-v-national-paving-co-wis-1938.