National Furniture Co. v. William Spiegelman & Co.

116 Misc. 53
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 15, 1921
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 116 Misc. 53 (National Furniture Co. v. William Spiegelman & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
National Furniture Co. v. William Spiegelman & Co., 116 Misc. 53 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1921).

Opinion

Wheeler, J.

This is a motion by the defendant to quash the service of a summons, on the ground such service was unauthorized, and conferred no jurisdiction on this court to render a personal judgment against the defendant.

[54]*54The facts disclosed by the moving and opposing affidavits are, that the defendant is a foreign corporation organized under the laws of Pennsylvania and located in the city of Philadelphia; that this action is to recover the purchase price of certain furniture claimed to have been sold by the plaintiff to the defendant at Jamestown, N. Y.; that the purchase in question was made through one Charles Spiegelman, the treasurer of the defendant, at an exposition held in the city of Jamestown; that he had made previous purchases of furniture at prior expositions, and on the occasion when service of process in this action was made on said Charles Spiegelman he had come to Jamestown as the representative of the defendant to attend another furniture exposition and make purchases for his company. Beyond the transactions above recited it does not appear that the defendant transacted or transacts any business within the state of New York, or has any business office or property within the state. The question presented is whether under such facts and circumstances the courts of this state can acquire jurisdiction of the defendant so as to render personal judgment against it.

Section 432 of the Code of Civil Procedure literally read is broad enough to give the court jurisdiction in every case where the officers of a foreign corporation specified in the section could be personally served with process. However, the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Riverside & Dan River Cotton Mills v. Menefee, 237 U. S. 189, held that the' courts of one state may not without violating the due process of law clause of the United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, render a money judgment against a corporation organized under the laws of another state, upon service on a resident director where the corporation has not come [55]*55into the former state for the purpose of doing business therein and has done no business therein, and has no property therein, and no qualified agent therein upon whom process may be served.

The Court of Appeals of this state, following the rule enunciated by the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Dollar Company v. Canadian Car & Foundry Co., 220 N. Y. 270, gave the Code section referred to an interpretation in harmony with the decision of the United States Supreme Court, thus modifying the previous doctrine expressed in the case of Pope v. Terra Haute Car Mfg. Co., 87 N. Y. 137.

It is now contended by defendant’s counsel in this action that the service made on the defendant’s treasurer should be vacated and set aside as violative of the law as declared in cases referred to. The question still remains, however, whether the defendant was or had been “ doing business within the state ” so as to render it subject to the process of our courts. The decisions of the courts on that subject are few in number, and so far cannot be deemed decisive on the state of facts here presented.

It' should be noted that in this case the contract upon which this action is brought was made in this state by an authorized agent and officer of the defendant. The purchase was made in Jamestown. It is true that the defendant claims that purchases of furniture made by its treasurer were subject to confirmation by the home office of the company, and it is, therefore, urged that instead of the contract being in fact a New York contract it is a Pennsylvania contract. There is, however, nothing in the defendant’s affidavits showing'that notice of any such limitation on the treasurer’s authority was given the plaintiff and others. On the contrary the plaintiffs in the affidavit read in' opposition state "that. Charles Spiegelman [56]*56had made previous purchases for his company at the Furniture Exposition, and that the defendant had always recognized the business so transacted, and never repudiated orders given by him here, or business done at the Furniture Exposition.

We think the court is, therefore, justified in holding that if there was any need of confirmation of purchases by the home office the plaintiff in this action had no notice or knowledge of any such limitation of the treasurer’s authority. The general rule is that acts done by executive officers of a corporation within the apparent scope of their authority in regard to the regular business of the corporation are binding upon it, and those dealing with such officers, under such circumstances, are not required to prove specific authority from the board of directors, and are not affected by any secret provisions of the by-laws not brought to their attention. Lyon v. West Side Transfer Co., 132 App. Div. 777; Warfield v. Wire Wheel Corp., 184 id. 687.

Consequently for the purposes of this motion we must assume that the purchase of furniture made by the defendant’s officer at Jamestown was a valid and binding contract without any necessity of its confirmation by the Philadelphia office of the defendant, and must be treated as a contract made in New York and sought to be enforced here.

This brings the court back to the consideration whether the purchase specified constitutes such a doing of business in this state as will sustain the service of process on an officer of the defendant here.

In the case of Tauza v. Susquehanna Coal Co., 220 N. Y. 259, there is an intimation that possibly a course of business dealing instead of isolated acts within the state is necessary to constitute such a doing of business within the state as to subject the [57]*57foreign corporation to the process of our courts. In discussing the facts in that case Judge Cardozo, writing for the court, said: “If in fact it is here, if it is here, not occasionally or casually, but with a fair measure of permanence and continuity, then, whether its business is interstate or local, it is within the jurisdiction of our courts.”

In the Tauza case the record shows the action was based on a cause of action which did not arise within the state of New York.

There are three reported cases in the Appellate Division of this court to which the attention of this court is called by defendant’s counsel. The first is that of Berner v. Collier Co., 179 App. Div. 732. There the defendant was an Ohio corporation which for a short time had had a salesman at Buffalo who was paid no salary but a commission on sales consummated by him. He had procured but one order and his employment had been terminated prior to service of process. The plaintiff Berner was employed to sell on commissions, but all orders had to be referred to the Ohio office for acceptance. His employment had also been terminated before attempted service, so at that time defendant had no agent or employee in the state, and was doing no business within the state. Held defendant Avas not subject to service of process within the state.

Note: It does appear that in this case the contract sued on was made Avithout this state or the cause of action arose here.

The next case is that of Fleischmann Construction Co. v. Blauner’s, 190 App. Div.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Etter v. Early Foundry Co.
164 Misc. 88 (New York Supreme Court, 1937)
Meyer v. Sachs Manufacturing Co.
200 A.D. 458 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1922)
Seaboard Fruit Distributors, Inc. v. Carlton-Moore Co.
199 A.D. 612 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
116 Misc. 53, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/national-furniture-co-v-william-spiegelman-co-nysupct-1921.