Coefficient Foundation v. Kennedy, 14694.

• Decision Date: 15 June 1945
• Docket Number: No. 14694.,14694.
• Citation: 188 S.W.2d 694
• Parties: COEFFICIENT FOUNDATION v. KENNEDY et al.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

188 S.W.2d 694

COEFFICIENT FOUNDATION v. KENNEDY et al.

No. 14694.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. Fort Worth.

June 15, 1945.

Appeal from District Court, Tarrant County; A. J. Power, Judge.

Action by Mavourene Kennedy and husband against Coefficient Foundation and others, for damages for wrongful eviction and for loss of personal property. From a judgment for plaintiffs, defendants except James McLeod appeal.

Judgment affirmed in part, left undisturbed in part, and reversed and rendered in part.

Rawlings, Sayers & Scurlock and Nelson Scurlock, all of Fort Worth, for appellants.

B. Y. Cummings, A. W. Dawson and Joe J. Johnson, all of Fort Worth, for appellee.

SPEER, Justice.

Mavourene Kennedy joined by her husband sued Coefficient Foundation, a corporation, and P. E. Glenn, his wife Mrs. P. E. (Lillian) Glenn, James McLeod, and his wife Mrs. James McLeod, J. J. Cole and his wife Mrs. J. J. Cole, and Earl Glenn, to recover damages for wrongful eviction from a room in a rooming house, for damages and loss of personal property and for exemplary damages.

All defendants answered by general denial. Trial was to the court without a jury; judgment was entered in plaintiffs' favor for $415 against all defendants, jointly and severally and against the individual defendants (besides the corporation) for $250 as exemplary damages. All defendants except James McLeod have appealed.

It is apparent that this case and a companion case, that of La Una Edwards, against the same defendants, were tried at one hearing; they were filed the same day; there is only one statement of facts but its caption bears the style and numbers of both and duplicate findings of fact and conclusions of law were filed in the respective cases, yet separate judgments were entered. No question is raised by either party in this respect, and we shall so consider the two appeals. The fact findings and conclusions are substantially as follows:

On February 23, 1944, P. E. Glenn, Mrs. P. E. Glenn, Earl Glenn, Mrs. James McLeod, and Mrs. J. J. Cole applied for and procured a charter under the name of "Coefficient Foundation"; that the purpose clause in said charter is, "The support of charitable, educational and religious undertakings specially in the following respects and particulars": The support of institutions which have for their purpose belief and teaching the tenets of any established church or religion, whether of Judaism, Roman or Greek Catholicism, Protestant Christianity or other theistic belief. To make contributions to students' loan funds, to aid worthy persons, to support and contribute to all worthy religious, charitable, benevolent, educational and philanthropic corporations, which may be found by the board of directors to be worthy; to erect and maintain a building or house for charitable, benevolent, educational and philanthropic work; to erect and maintain a building to office the employees; to pay operating expenses of the corporation; to build, keep, and maintain hospitals, clinics and schools for charitable and benevolent purposes; to acquire property by gift, devise or bequest, such as is convenient and proper to carry out the purposes of the corporation. There are many other provisions of the charter found by the court, not necessary to mention. In fact the court copied the charter in his fact findings and it covers several pages in the record.

Court further found as a fact that the corporation and the parties who procured its charter had never exercised the privileges or performed the duties and purposes for which the corporation was formed. That the property purported to be owned by the corporation has at all times been operated by the defendants who applied for the charter, as a rooming house; that P. E. Glenn was agent for the corporation for the purpose of collecting rents and his wife was the business manager for the corporation and the property it controlled. That the defendants, P. E. Glenn, Mrs. P. E. Glenn, Earl Glenn, Mrs. James McLeod, and Mrs. J. J. Cole are the persons who applied for and obtained the charter for the corporation, and are the same persons who managed and operated Coefficient Foundation for the purpose of a rooming house, and no other persons were interested in either the corporation or the rooming house.

There was a further finding that the plaintiffs, Mrs. Kennedy and Miss Edwards were born and reared at Center, Texas, and had lived in Fort Worth about two years and were employed at an Aircraft Corporation at a wage of $10 per day each; that both are high class young women of culture and refinement. Miss Edwards is a single woman, and Mrs. Kennedy is married, and her husband is in England with the Armed Forces; that in July, 1944, the two ladies rented a room from P. E. Glenn acting as agent, in a building or rooming house owned by Coefficient Foundation; they paid their rentals regularly and occupied the rooms as their residence; that on September 6, 1944, when the young ladies returned from their work to their rooms, they found the doors and windows securely locked and found two notes on their door, reading as follows:

"Eviction Notice.

                "Miss La Una Edwards
                "Miss Marovina Kennedy
                

"You have been evicted for non-payment of rent; you neither paid nor tendered payment either in cash or money order.

"You will find your belongings at the Fort Worth Warehouse & Storage Co.

"When you rejected the offer of a weeks free rent and stated you were going to continue to occupy the rooms regardless, it then made your rent due on the usual due date.

"Notice:

"The doors and windows of these rooms have been securely locked and fastened.

"Any one who tampers with these locks or windows or enters these premises will be prosecuted for housebreaking and trespassing."

That the above notices were posted on the doors of plaintiffs' room by P. E. Glenn and Mrs. P. E. Glenn, acting for themselves and as rental agent and manager, respectively, for the corporation and all other defendants and independently of the purpose clause of the charter of the corporation; that at the time of the eviction of plaintiffs they were both financially able to pay their rentals, and offered to pay, but defendants refused to accept it. Neither Miss Edwards nor Mrs. Kennedy had been guilty of any misconduct; that by reason of the unlawful eviction they were both shamed and humiliated and damaged and their property was damaged. That no effort was made by defendants to evict plaintiffs through legal procedure. That when evicted Miss Edwards owned a pair of ear-rings of the value of $10 which were never returned to her; her cedar chest was scratched and broken to her damage $15; her clothing damaged and required $15 expense to recondition them; she lost one and a half days from her work to her damage of $15 and was shamed and humiliated to the extent of $250; that at the time of the unlawful eviction and the removal of her property, Mrs. Kennedy lost $150 which she never recovered; that she lost a day and a half from her work to her damage of $15, and she was shamed and humiliated to her damage in the sum of $250. That said eviction and removal of plaintiffs' property was done by defendants...