Somers v. Cooley Chevrolet Co.
| Decision Date | 14 July 1959 |
| Citation | 153 A.2d 426,146 Conn. 627 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | Lewis SOMERS v. COOLEY CHEVROLET COMPANY, Inc., et al. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut |
T. Holmes Bracken, New Haven, for appellants (defendants).
Curtiss K. Thompson, New Haven, with whom, on the brief, was William M. Mack, New Haven, for the appellee (plaintiff).
Before DALY, C. J., and BALDWIN, KING, MURPHY and MELLITZ, JJ.
This action, in two counts, was brought to recover a balance claimed to be due for services rendered by the plaintiff to the defendants, four corporations. The first count sought recovery on an express contract, and the second on quantum meruit. The plaintiff had judgment on the second count alone, and the defendants have appealed.
The court found the following facts, which are not subject to correction. The defendants are automobile agencies engaged in business in or near New Haven. J. J. Cooley is the controlling stockholder, and president and treasurer, of each corporation. The plaintiff was employed by the named defendant in 1946 as its general manager. In this capacity he also supervised the operations of the other defendants, which were regarded as branches of the named defendant. His earnings gradually increased from $15,150 in 1947 to $20,000 in 1950. In 1951, he was dissatisfied with the amount of his compensation and on several occasions told Cooley that he wanted a profit-sharing arrangement. Cooley informed him that the branches were not set up in such a way as to permit a profit-sharing plan but that he could be sure of--was guaranteed--$25,000 a year, and could earn more. Similar statements were made by Cooley on other occasions. No issue exists as to his authority to make them on behalf of the defendants. On one occasion, the plaintiff asked that his compensation at the guaranteed rate be paid him in monthly instalments, and Cooley replied that he wanted to withhold part of the money until the end of the year in order to be able to apportion the charge among his several corporations in the way most beneficial to him in connection with income taxes. In 1951, 1952 and 1953, the plaintiff was paid $1000 per month and an additional sum at the end of each year; his earnings were $30,500, $25,000 and $28,000, for those years. In 1954, the plaintiff considered entering business on his own account. To dissuade him from doing so, Cooley offered him a profit-sharing plan. The plaintiff, however, terminated his employment on October 15, 1954. For his services to the defendants in that year, he was paid $1000 per month during the first nine months and $500 for half of October.
The plaintiff claims that he was entitled to compensation at the rate of $25,000 per annum, that between January 1 and October 15, 1954, he earned $19,791.63, and that, after the $9500 which he received for that period is credited, a balance of $10,291.63, plus interest, remains due to him. The defendants claim that the plaintiff was chargeable with a wilful and unjustified abandonment of contract and consequently could not recover further for his services. They do not dispute, however, that there was no specific agreement in effect for the plaintiff...
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Magnan v. Anaconda Industries, Inc.
...240, 242, 59 L.Ed. 441 (1915); Adair v. United States, 208 U.S. 161, 28 S.Ct. 277, 52 L.Ed. 436 (1908); Somers v. Cooley Chevrolet Co., 146 Conn. 627, 629, 153 A.2d 426 (1959); Fisher v. Jackson, 142 Conn. 734, 736, 118 A.2d 316 (1955); Boucher v. Godfrey, 119 Conn. 622, 627, 178 A. 655 (19......
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Sheets v. Teddy's Frosted Foods, Inc.
...proposition that contracts of permanent employment, or for an indefinite term, are terminable at will. See Somers v. Cooley Chevrolet Co., 146 Conn. 627, 629, 153 A.2d 426 (1959); Fisher v. Jackson, 142 Conn. 734, 736, 118 A.2d 316 (1955). Nor does he argue that contracts terminable at will......
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...385 (1980); the cases establishing that proposition do not preclude the parties from contracting otherwise. See Somers v. Cooley Chevrolet Co., 146 Conn. 627, 153 A.2d 426 (1959); Fisher v. Jackson, 142 Conn. 734, 118 A.2d 316 (1955); Carter v. Bartek, 142 Conn. 448, 114 A.2d 923 (1955). Th......
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