Ross v. Eagle Coal Co.
| Decision Date | 27 February 1931 |
| Citation | 237 Ky. 660,36 S.W.2d 48 |
| Parties | ROSS v. EAGLE COAL CO. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, McCreary County.
Action by C. I. Ross against the Eagle Coal Company. The jury was peremptorily instructed to find for defendant, and plaintiff appeals, with a cross-appeal by defendant.
Reversed and remanded.
B. J Bethurum, of Somerset, and H. M. Cline, of Whitley City, for appellant.
William Waddle, of Somerset, and Stephens & Steely, of Williamsburg for appellee.
The Eagle Coal Company owns and operates a coal mine in McCreary county, and for several years C. I. Ross was its general manager, running the business. In November, 1919, he quit as general manager. Subsequently he brought this action against the company charging that after he quit as general manager he was employed by the company to perform certain services at $100 a month. The allegations of his petition were denied by answer. The case came on for trial before a jury, and at the conclusion of the evidence on both sides, the court instructed the jury peremptorily to find for the defendant. Ross appeals.
Ross testified, in substance, that he was employed by George P Durell, the president of the company, to look after the tax matters of the company and to settle personal injury cases that had accrued; to see about the machinery and engines and to keep in touch with the car service and keep cars coming down regularly, so that there would be no interruption in getting out the coal, and for these services the president promised to pay him $100 a month, and that he had served in this capacity for twenty-one months. The company had paid him for six months and refused to pay him any longer. He sued for the balance, $1,500.
On the other hand, Durell testified that the contract with Ross was only for six months. Ross sustained his testimony by several witnesses, testifying that he rendered the services sued for for twenty-one months, and that it took much of his time. The court gave the peremptory instruction on the ground that thre was no testimony that Durell had authority as president of the company to make the contract. After stating, in substance, that he worked for the company as general manager in 1917, 1918, and 1919, under a contract made with Durell who made with him the new contract sued on, Ross in his testimony said this:
"Q. What was Mr. Durell's capacity with the Eagle Coal Company? A. He was chief owner, President, Treasurer, all of it.
Q. Were you employed individually by him for the company? A. Yes, sir.
Q. You say after you severed your connections with him as general manager you made another contract with him? A. Yes, sir."
He then goes on to tell what the second contract was. Durell in his testimony says this: The question presented is: Was there any evidence that Durell had authority to make the contract sued on? The rule is well settled that a corporation is responsible for the acts of its agent while engaged in the business of the agency to the same extent and under the same circumstances that a natural person is charged with the acts of his agents. Havens v. Bank of Tarboro, 132 N.C. 214, 43 S.E. 639, 95 Am. St. Rep. 627; 14a C.J. pp. 348, 349, §§ 2210-2212, and cases cited. The rule is also well settled that the president of a mining corporation, who is in the active conduct and the management of its business, must be presumed to have all the powers of any agent exercising like control and management and to have authority to do what is usually and ordinarily done by such an agent. Ceeder v. Loud, etc., Lumber Co., 86 Mich. 541, 49 N.W. 575, 24 Am. St. Rep. 134, and cases cited in note. The testimony of Ross that Durell was "chief owner, president, treasurer, all of it," is simply a condensed statement that Durell ran the business, and this is conclusively confirmed by Durell's testimony, who says that he looked after the company's business without any qualification....
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