Buffalo Lubricating Oil Co. v. Standard Oil Co.

• Decision Date: 01 July 1887
• Citation: 12 N.E. 825,106 N.Y. 669
• Parties: BUFFALO LUBRICATING OIL CO., Limited, v. STANDARD OIL CO., impleaded, etc.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

106 N.Y. 669

12 N.E. 825

BUFFALO LUBRICATING OIL CO., Limited,

v.STANDARD OIL CO., impleaded, etc.¹

Court of Appeals of New York.

July 1, 1887.

This was an action brought against several defendants, some of whom were bodies corporate and some individuals, for the recovery of damages caused by an alleged conspiracy. The Acme Oil Company and the Standard Oil Company demurred to the complaint on the ground that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, in these particulars: (1) That a corporation is not capable of being a party to a conspiracy; (2) that no facts are stated connecting defendants with the wrong done because the agents who performed the wrongful acts were not acting within the scope of their employment, and no allegation is made that the acts were done pursuant to any special resolution or action of the board of directors.

The complaint charges the other defendants with having formed a conspiracy to injure the plaintiff, and doing certain acts injurious to the plaintiff in pursuance thereof, prior to the time when the Standard Oil Company was organized, and went into existence as a corporation. The complaint then charges that, after the defendant came into existence, it joined and became a party to the conspiracy, and ratified its previous action. It is then further charged, as of a time after the defendant was organized, that the conspirators,-that is, all the defendants,-by letters and other means, requested various customers of the plaintiff not to purchase oil from it, and represented that the plaintiff's oil was of inferior quality, and that the plaintiff had no right to make such oils and vend the same on the market, and threatened the defendant's customers with lawsuits and expenses if they continued to patronize the plaintiff and purchase its commodities; and employed one Stearn to make such statements, and that he did make the same at the city of Boston, and in other places in the state of Massachusetts, and in various parts of New England, to certain customers of the plaintiff, and by reason thereof the plaintiff lost many of its said customers and much of its trade and business, and suffered great loss and damage in consequence thereof; that the said conspirators, by their agents and servants, did falsely represent to customers of plaintiff that said conspirators, or some of them, had patents that covered the entire products of plaintiff's manufacture, and that the plaintiff had no right to make the oil it was then manufacturing, and that all who bought oil of the plaintiff were infringing the patents of some one of or all of the said conspirators, and that one or more of said conspirators would bring actions for such infringements against each and every one of the customers of the plaintiff who bought oils or dealt with the plaintiff, for such infringement of the said patent; and that, by reason thereof, the said conspirators did prevent many of the customers of the plaintiff from purchasing oils of or from dealing with it, and did take from the plaintiff many of its coustomers, to the great damage of the plaintiff. The complaint also avers that, of a time subsequent to the creation of this defendant as a corporation, the defendants did other wrongful acts to the detriment and pecuniary injury of the plaintiff. The demurrer was overruled, and defendants appealed.

George J. Sicard, for appellants.

Adelbert Moot, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We entertain no doubt that an action against a corporation may be maintained to recover damages caused by conspiracy. Morton v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 34 Hun, 367; affirmed 103 N. Y. 645;Reed v. Home Sav. Bank, 130 Mass. 443;Krulivitz v. Eastern R. Co., 140 Mass. 575, 5 N. E. Rep. 500; Western News Co. v. Wilmarch, 33 Kan. 510,6 Pac. Rep. 786. If actions can be maintained against corporations for malicious prosecution, libel, assault...