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Brief Fact Summary. Defendant, Maxwell, hired Fuller as an agent to hire singers for recitals. The singers were not aware of the unique purpose of the recitals.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A principal is responsible for his agent for conduct that is reasonable for the scope of the agent’s duties, regardless of whether the conduct was actually sanctioned by the principal.
He reasoned that the scope of an agency must be measured not alone by the words in which it is created, but by the whole setting in which those words are used, including the customary powers of such agents and thus the contract was enforceable because the customary implication would seem to have been that the agent's authority was without limitation of the kind here imposed.
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Issue. The issue is whether the principal is responsible for conduct of the agent that, while seemingly reasonable to third parties, was not actually delegated to the agent by the principal.
Held. The principal-Defendant was liable for the actions of the agent. Once the principal delegates another person to act on his behalf, a third party should be able to rely upon the actions of an agent that are reasonable under the circumstances.
Discussion. A third party should not have to confirm with a principal for every decision made by an agent. The purpose of an agent is to allow the principal to be free from direct interaction with the third party at issue.