Barnard v. Coffin
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract, with counts in tort. The fourth count, which was in tort, was as follows: “ And the plaintiff says that he employed the defendants to sell a certain parcel of land, to wit, one hundred and sixty acres of land situated in Rock Island county, in the State of Illinois, and the defendants became and were bound to use due care in and about the sale thereof, and the defendants did not use due care in and about the sale thereof ;• but, by reason of the wrongful and…
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Contract, with counts in tort. The fourth count, which was in tort, was as follows: “ And the plaintiff says that he employed the defendants to sell a certain parcel of land, to wit, one hundred and sixty acres of land situated in Rock Island county, in the State of Illinois, and the defendants became and were bound to use due care in and about the sale thereof, and the defendants did not use due care in and about the sale thereof ;• but, by reason of the wrongful and negligent performance of their duty in the premises, the plaintiff suffered great loss and damage.” Trial in the Superior…
1Opinion of the CourtField, J.
If the plaintiff merely employed the defendants to get offers and report them to him, and he on his own judgment accepted an offer they reported, it is difficult to see how the defendants can be held responsible for the fraudulent conduct of Ochs, unless they participated in it.
If Ochs was the agent of the defendants and they are responsible for his acts under the rule of respondeat superior, the cause of action is the malfeasance of Ochs, for which the defendants are responsible, independently of any negligence on their part.
If the plaintiff acted wholly on his own judgment in accepting the…
2Cited by5 opinions
- Harlow v. BartlettMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1898
- Barnard v. CoffinMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1886
- Brown v. South Joplin Lead & Zinc Mining Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1906
- Bass v. JacobsMissouri Court of Appeals · 1895
- Hamilburg v. MeffertMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1935