Works v. Fischer

186 P. 877, 109 Wash. 279, 1920 Wash. LEXIS 974
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 3, 1920
DocketNo. 15567
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 186 P. 877 (Works v. Fischer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Works v. Fischer, 186 P. 877, 109 Wash. 279, 1920 Wash. LEXIS 974 (Wash. 1920).

Opinion

Mackintosh, J.

The respondent’s complaint alleges for a first canse of action that it and the appellant Fischer, about March 18, 1918, made a verbal contract, the respondent agreeing to manufacture steel automobile beds for Fischer, to be delivered as ordered, and that Fischer made orders as follows: March 18, .1918, 500 beds at $3.10 each; May 9, 1918, 1,000 beds at $4.15 each; and May 22, 1918, 4,000 beds at $4.15 for smaller beds and $5.15 for the larger beds; that the appellant company was organized May 27, 1918, and shortly after its incorporation assumed the contract' and agreed to comply with its terms; that, between March 18, 1918, and October 30, 1918, the respondent, pursuant to the agreement, delivered to the appellants 2,081 beds at $8,900.83; also, that, on May 22, 1918, at the time of receiving the order for 4,000 beds, the respondent, at the request of the appellant Fischer, ordered and purchased steel for the appellants, a portion of which steel was consumed in the manufacture of the beds, and that the reasonable value of the steel was $4,363.84, which the respondent paid and advanced for the appellants. The complaint states that the sum of $5,001.30 has been paid on account of the automobile beds and $1,775 on account of the steel, and there remains a balance due the respondent, on account of the beds and steel, of $6,488.37.

The respondent’s second cause of action alleges that, after the completion of the 2,081 beds, the appellants repudiated the contract and refused to accept any more beds, which resulted in the loss to the respondent of profits in the sum of $1 per bed on 3,419 beds, and asks, in the second cause of action, for judgment for that amount.

The appellant Fischer, by answer, generally denies the material allegations of the complaint and affirmatively pleads that, relying upon the respondent’s repre[281]*281sentations that it had the necessary plant and equipment to manufacture the beds in a satisfactory manner, he placed an order with the respondent for 501 beds, and that, on May 9, he and certain associates incorporated the appellant company, and that from the day of its incorporation all business relating to the manufacture of the beds was between the corporation and the respondent, and that he, personally, had no further business relations with the respondent, except as an officer of the corporation, and that all sums which he personally owed to respondent had been fully paid. The company’s answer admits that, upon its incorporation, it assumed and agreed to comply with all contracts theretofore entered into between the respondent and appellant Fischer, but denies that Fischer had, prior to the incorporation, ordered any beds in excess of 501, and denies that respondent manufactured and delivered 2,081 beds, or any number in excess of 1,229, and denies that the value of the beds was in excess of $5,657.48.

As a first affirmative defense, the corporation alleges that, in May, 1918, respondent falsely represented that there was a great shortage of steel necessary for the construction of the beds and that it would be necessary that steel be purchased and stored for future use, and represented that, not having sufficient funds to make the purchase of the steel, it requested the appellant company to advance the necessary money, it being agreed that the money advanced for the purchase of such steel as was necessary to be used in the beds would be credited to the appellant company’s account upon beds as they might thereafter be ordered, and that, in pursuance of that agreement, the appellant company advanced to the respondent the sum of $1,500. It further alleges that the respondent purchased steel at more than the market price, and that the appellant [282]*282company notified the respondent that, on account of defective workmanship, it would not place any further orders for beds or accept any more of them. As a second affirmative defense, the company alleges that all of the beds manufactured and delivered by the respondent have been more than paid for and that there is a balance due appellant company of $1,138.82. As a third affirmative defense, the company alleges that the beds delivered were so improperly constructed that it was necessary to refinish and rebuild the same, at the cost of $1,608.93. As a fourth affirmative defense, the company alleges that it has expended $8,401.60 in advertising, which has been- rendered valueless by the fact that the beds furnished by respondent were defective and inferior in construction and therefore unsalable, and that orders placed with the company for beds have been cancelled, and agents have refused to perform their contracts of sale. This affirmative defense was abandoned by the company on the trial. The respondent generally denies all the affirmative matter in the answers of the appellants. Upon the trial, the jury returned a verdict for $9,907.37, the full amount prayed for by the respondent, against both appellants, from which both appeal.

Four of the grounds upon which reversal is sought which we will consider here are, (1) that appellant Fischer’s motion for nonsuit should have been granted; (2) that the issue in regard to the purchase of steel should have been withdrawn from the jury; (3) that the verdict is excessive, in that there was no proof of damages under the respondent’s second cause of action; and (4) misconduct of respondent entitling appellants to a new trial.

I. The 501 beds, which it is admitted by appellants were ordered by Fischer individually, have been fully [283]*283paid for, and if the orders placed on May 9 and 22 are ones for which the appellant company is alone responsible, no judgment can be entered against Fischer in this case. The record shows that, on April 19,1918, the articles of incorporation of the appellant company were executed and were filed with the secretary of state on May 9, 1919, and that certificate authorizing the commencement of business was issued on that date. In the time between the execution of the articles and their filing, the corporation had been doing business under its corporate name, for, on April 30, the corporation gave a check to the respondent in the sum of $500, which was signed by the corporate name and bore the name of the corporation conspicuously in two places. On May 1, respondent acknowledged receipt of this check in a letter addressed to the corporation. The shop records of respondent show an order for 501 beds on March 18,1918, as sold to Fischer individually, and all the records of the respondent thereafter, that is, shop records, ledgers, statements of account and correspondence, in no place refer to Fischer individually, but wherever a name is used, the name of the corporation appears. When the order of May 9 was given, the order was opened in a new shop record, and this new record recites the order as being sold to the corporation. On May 20, the respondent received a check from the corporation for $1,241.30, and on May 21 a check for $1,000. The respondent, on May 21, gave a receipt for the $1,000 payment to the corporation, and the shop records for the last order showed the name of the corporation. All the originals and copies of statements of account rendered by respondent, some twenty-five or thirty, and bearing date from May 17 to September 23, are rendered to the corporation and not to Fischer individually. The respondent’s ledger, which contained the only account of the re[284]*284spondent with either of the appellants, is headed in the name of the corporation as successor to Fischer.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
186 P. 877, 109 Wash. 279, 1920 Wash. LEXIS 974, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/works-v-fischer-wash-1920.