Allison v. American Airlines

• Decision Date: 14 April 1953
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 3132.
• Citation: 112 F. Supp. 37
• Parties: ALLISON v. AMERICAN AIRLINES. Inc. et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Oklahoma

112 F. Supp. 37

ALLISON v. AMERICAN AIRLINES. Inc. et al.

Civ. No. 3132.

United States District Court N. D. Oklahoma.

April 14, 1953.

Disney, Hart & Disney, Tulsa, Okl., for plaintiff.

Debevoise, Plimpton & McLean, New York City, and Savage, Gibson & Benefield, Oklahoma City, Okl., for defendant.

WALLACE, District Judge.

The plaintiff, Wayne Allison, brings this action against American Airlines, Inc., a corporation, and Joe S. Anderson, an employee of the defendant corporation.

The plaintiff now moves to remand this action to the State Court inasmuch as both the plaintiff and the defendant, Anderson, are citizens of the State of Oklahoma.

Defendant, Anderson, is charged with having "falsified records and misrepresented facts" which brought about a breach of an employment contract between the plaintiff and the defendant, American. Thus in substance the defendant, Anderson, is charged with "inducing" a breach of contract and with interfering with business relations.

Defendant, American, is sued for breach of contract.

There is a very serious question whether a cause of action is stated against Anderson individually; the allegations in the complaint state in substance that Anderson was acting within the scope of his employment and that any acts which in fact were without the scope of his employment were subsequently ratified in their entirety by American.

Generally, where an employer ratifies the tortious acts of its servant, this does not absolve the employee from personal liability for the tort, but does thereby make the employer equally liable for its commission. However, in this case, such does not follow, inasmuch as the tort committed, if any, by the employee is for "inducing" a breach of contract; thus, although an employer may be guilty of breaching its contract, it cannot be guilty of "inducing" the breach of its own contract; and, the liability of the employer is limited to compensatory damages directly flowing from such breach.¹

In Vassardakis v. Parish the court said:²

"* * * However, counsel for Myers contends that Myers is immune from any personal liability for inducing the corporation to breach the contract by the mere fact that he was at the time an officer and director of the corporation, citing Greyhound Corporation v. Commercial Casualty Insurance Co., 259 App.Div. 317, 19 N.Y.S. 2d 239; citing cases.

"It is undoubtedly true that an employee or officer of a corporation may have the right, and perhaps the duty, of inducing the corporation to breach a contract of the corporation with a third party if it appears to him to be for the best interests of the corporation to do so, as in the Greyhound case, supra 1940, 19 N.Y.S.2d 239.

"I agree that an employee or officer of a corporation who, in good faith and believing it to be for the best interest of the corporation, seeks to have the corporation breach its contract with a third party, should be absolved from a suit of this character for the reason that his acts are not without justification. However, such employee or officer must in good faith be serving the interest of the corporation and with justification. The Hornstein case expressly makes lack of justification a condition precedent to liability, and in the Greyhound Corporation case the court notes that there is no allegation that the defendants `profited in any way by the alleged deceit upon their principal'. 259 App.Div. at page 319, 19 N.Y.S.2d at page 241." (Insert supplied.)

Thus, as there is no express allegation that Anderson, the employee, personally benefited from his acts which lead to the discharge of the plaintiff by the defendant, American, it is very questionable that a cause of action is stated against Anderson; it may well be argued that what Anderson did, he did for the good of American and that with American's subsequent ratification of all his acts, American must solely be looked to for damages...