Fraser v. San Francisco Bridge Co.

Citations

• 103 Cal. 79
• 36 P. 1037
• 1894 Cal. LEXIS 725

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant—Contract to Pay for Medical Services—Consideration.—Although a master may not he responsible for injury received by his servant while in his employ, yet where he has been a faithful servant, and was injured while performing his duties as such, and has no means to procure needed attention and care, there is a sufficient moral obligation resting on the master to furnish to him such assistance and care to constitute a consideration for a legal obligation to pay all reasonable charges of the attending physician for medical services.</p> <p>Id.—Ratification of Authority of President of Corporation— Estoppel.—Where a president of a corporation has contracted in the name of the corporation to pay to attending physicians a reasonable compensation for medical services to an employee injured while in its employment, a payment made by the corporation to one of the physicians for his services, and its offer to pay a reasonable sum to the other physician for his services, recognized, approved, and confirmed the authority of the president to make the contract, and the corporation cannot, after the services have been rendered in reliance on the contract, be permitted to repudiate it and deny liability thereunder.</p> <p>Id.—Contract Reserving Right to Determine Reasonableness of Charge.—Where the agreement made on behalf of the corporation to pay all reasonable charges of the physicians contains the words: “ We reserve to ourselves the right to determine what is reasonable,” such reservation is one which the company, under the circumstances shown, had a right to make, and the physician is entitled to recover only the amount offered him by the corporation, and a jury cannot award him any greater amount.</p>