Question

Stahl was having trouble with her Volkswagen, she brought it to the service station of LePage, where it was examined and the trouble was diagnosed. LePage informed stahl that he would not be able to do the work, but that his employee Donley wanted to take the job on his own and could make use of the garage facilities for this purpose. A new engine was required, and Donely installed the wrong engine. The entire job had to be done over at a cost of hundreds of dollars. Stahl brought suit against LePage. She argued that she should be allowed to recover against LePagefor the misdeed of Donely, because Donely had apparent authority to act as LePage's agent. LePage disputed this claim, arguing that the facts did not warrant a finding of agency under any theory. How did the court find in this dispute?

Answer 1

As per "THE LAW OF AGENCY" a person can become an agent to the principal by estoppel i,e. when a principal tells the third party or makes them believe that another person can complete the work on his behalf to the third party then the person becomes agent of the principal and the third party can sue the principal in case of any misconduct of contract by the agent.

In the above case Donley is the agent of Lepage though Donley was on his own to take up the work, but Lepage was the one who told about the Donley and he is the employee of Lepage. so the suit against the Lepage is valid and he should repay the losses to Stahl.