Guggenheime & Co. v. Youell

Citations

• 53 Wash. 163
• 101 P. 711
• 1909 Wash. LEXIS 1288

Syllabus

<p>Principal and Agent — Existence of Relation — Secret Agreement — Evidence—Sufficiency. Findings that there was a secret agreement that one C. should act as agent for defendant company in buying fruit, are sustained where it appears that the company furnished C. with money which he deposited in his own name and personally checked out in payment for fruit purchased for the company, and that the general agent of the company, prior to the time in question, told the bank they would discontinue the practice, and left orders as to whom the money was to be disbursed and had a quiet arrangement with the bank to be notified if it was disbursed otherwise, but did not order C. to discontinue the practice.</p> <p>Principal and Agent — Undisclosed Principal — Purchaser in Good Faith from Agent — Estoppel—Set-off Against Principal. Where a dealer in fruit secretly employs as its agent to purchase fruit one who had for two years been engaged in the same business on his own account, furnishing such agent moneys therefor to be deposited in his own name and personally checked out, and permitted the agent to store the fruit purchased as the agent’s property and exercise all acts of ownership over the same, when the custom of agents in that locality was to buy in the names of their principals, the principal is estopped from claiming the property or questioning the right of an innocent purchaser, after the agent had sold and delivered the fruit as his own property; especially in view of the laws of that state to the effect that one dealing with an agent without knowledge of, or reason to believe in, the agency, may set off against the principal any claim which he might set off against the agent.</p>