Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff, Three-Seventy Leasing Corp., sought damages from Defendant, Ampex Corp., for a breach of contract to sell Plaintiff computer hardware.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. An agent has the apparent authority to act in a manner that is reasonable for a person in the agent’s position, and a third party can rely on those actions when a principal indicates through its actions that an agent had the appropriate authority.
Apparent authority is based on the doctrine of estoppel, and one seeking to charge the principal through apparent authority of an agent must establish conduct by the principal that would lead a reasonably prudent person to believe that the agent has the authority that he purports to exercise.
View Full Point of LawIssue. The issue is whether Kays entered Defendant into a contract with Plaintiff under an apparent authority to act in that capacity.
Held. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that Kays had apparent authority to act on behalf of Defendant in contractual matters with Plaintiff, and that Kays did enter into an agreement when he promised shipment of the hardware. It was reasonable for Plaintiff to rely on Kays, a salesman, to conduct a sales transaction with Plaintiff. Defendant agreed to continue negotiations through Kays, and any evidence to demonstrate that Kays did not have that authority was never relayed to Plaintiff.
Discussion. This case is similar to Lind v. Schenley Industries, Inc., in that the plaintiffs relied upon a representative of the principal that acted as the face of the principal in dealings with the plaintiffs. In both cases, the courts could not justify forcing the plaintiffs to comply with the actual authority established by the principals that was unknown to the plaintiffs.