Potter v. Chaney
| Decision Date | 04 May 1956 |
| Citation | 290 S.W.2d 44 |
| Parties | James W. POTTER, Percy Potter and Eugene Potter, d/b/a Potter Coal Company, Appellants, v. Cecil CHANEY, Elkfoot Mines Corporation, and Woodside Mines Corporation, Appellees. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
L. D. Mays, Pikeville, for appellants.
Baird & Hays, Pikeville, for appellees.
Appellants, James W. Potter, Percy Potter and Eugene Potter, d. b. a. Potter Coal Company, sought below to hold appellee, Cecil Chaney, personally liable for the indebtedness due them on coal which they averred they sold to appellee but which the latter claimed was in fact sold and delivered to Elkfoot Mines Corporation of which he was president and purchasing agent.
The Bevins-Chaney Coal Company was incorporated in March, 1950, with appellee as its president, and a copy of its charter was filed in the office of the Pike County court clerk March 27, 1950. Appellants delivered their first coal to this company and received a check therefor from the corporation on April 15, 1950. In January, 1951, P. F. Bevins, a large shareholder in the Bevins-Chaney Coal Company, disposed of his interest therein and shortly thereafter the corporation's charter was amended, and its name was changed to Elkfoot Mines Corporation, appellee retaining his position as president. Appellants continued to sell coal to the corporation until it ceased to operate on March 29, 1954, because of financial difficulties. In the early part of June, 1954, it filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy and liquidated its affairs.
The corporation during its existence was engaged in mining operations, having its office in Pikeville, and it owned a coal dock located about 25 miles east of that city near the mouth of Big Creek, a tributary of Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. The major part of its business, however, consisted of buying coal for shipment to the market from small truck mines scattered over that area. It was the task of appellee to make outside contacts for the purchase of coal, and it was he who negotiated arrangements with appellants to buy their coal 'as long as it was clean and we could sell it.' Checks totaling $170,000 were issued to appellants by the corporation for the period of time involved.
The debt sued upon amounts to $4,741.50 and it represents coal sold to Elkfoot Mines Corporation from March 16 to March 29, 1954. Appellants maintained, and their testimony was to the effect, that from the beginning to the end of their association with appellee they thought they were dealing with him as an individual and believed he personally was buying their coal. All of them declared appellee never at any time mentioned the corporation as the purchaser of their coal nor did he ever state he was its president. They said they delivered the coal to a loading place known to the people in the vicinity as 'Chaney's Dock.' Appellant, Eugene Potter, testified appellee did not disclose to appellants that he had acted as agent of the corporation until it went into bankruptcy. He asserted he then approached him about settling the balance due them and, according to him, appellee assumed sole responsibility for the debt, saying: 'I'll pay it personally if I have to sell my home.'
Appellee testified he never undertook any transactions for the purchase of coal either with appellants or with others except in his capacity as president of the corporation. He denied he ever promised to make payments to appellants directly or that he would personally reimburse them. Appellee's evidence also established that all payments made to appellants were by checks drawn on the corporation, signed in each instance by appellee as president or by the chairman of the board, and with the corporate name printed on the upper left hand face of the check delivered to them. It was not contradicted that appellants, or some of them, at various times came to the corporation's office in Pikeville for their checks, and that weight sheets bearing the name of the corporation were furnished appellants for each delivery of coal. Appellee stated there was a sign on the premises, open to view, declaring 'Elkfoot Mines Corporation' was covered under the provisions of the Kentucky Workmen's Compensation Act.
It was pointed out that appellants filed a claim for their debt with the trustee of the bankrupt corporation, but it was contended this was done at the insistence of appellee and upon his personal commitment that, if they did not receive payment...
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Ping v. Beverly Enters., Inc.
... ... Restatement (Third) of Agency 6.01 (2006); see Potter v. Chaney, 290 S.W.2d 44, 46 (Ky.1956) (After the principal is disclosed, the agent is not liable, generally speaking, for his own authorized ... ...
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Pannell v. Shannon
... ... of a corporation will not be individually bound when contracting as an agent of that corporation within the scope of his employment.” Potter v. Chaney, 290 S.W.2d 44, 46 (Ky.1956). As long as the third party has notice that the agent is acting on behalf of a principal, “the agent is not ... ...
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Kimco Corp. v. Murdoch, Coll and Lillibridge, Inc.
... ... is disclosed, the agent is not liable, generally speaking, * * * for the subsequent dealings between the third person and the principal." Potter v. Chaney, 290 S.W.2d 44, 46 (Ky.App.1956) ... The parties have not cited nor have we found Illinois case law directly on point ... ...
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Buchanan v. Henderson, CV-R-85-563-HDM.
... ... Potter v. Chaney, 290 S.W.2d 44 (Ky.1956); Lentz Plumbing Co., 679 P.2d at 743 ... The bankruptcy court made no finding, and there was ... ...