Matsumura v. Eilert

Before the sins of an agent can be visited upon his principal, the agency must be first established. Huyck & Sons, farmers in Lompoc, California, sold 400 sacks of beans for delivery to Empire Seed Company in Othello. One Leo Sullivan, acting as a sort of intermediary in Lompoc, negotiated the sale and arranged shipment. Empire Seed then sold the beans to plaintiffs, farmers in the Columbia Basin area, who planted them. Although of good quality, the beans proved to be the wrong variety, matured too late for the Columbia Basin climate, and produced a scanty yield. Plaintiffs seek to hold Huyck…