101 Wash. 511 | Wash. | 1918
The plaintiff, Bookhout, commenced this action in the superior court for Spokane county, seeking recovery of wages upon quantum meruit for labor performed by him for the defendant, Yuich, upon his farm in Spokane county. The plaintiff claims he is entitled to have the amount of his recovery so measured because of the breach of a contract of employment by which he was to work upon the defendant’s farm and receive as compensation therefor shares in the crops and produce and in the increase of the live stock to result from his labor upon the farm, during the period from August, 1915, to November, 1916. Trial before the- court sitting without a jury resulted in findings and judgment in favor of the plaintiff substantially as prayed for, from which the defendant has appealed to this court.
Appellant, the owner of the farm, is engaged in business and resides in the city of Spokane. The respondent is a farmer, fairly intelligent, and can speak and understand the English language, though he cannot read or write. In August, 1915, appellant employed respondent to work upon the farm, to assist in harvesting and caring for the crops produced thereon during that year. Soon thereafter they entered into an oral agreement by which it became understood between them that respondent would continue to work upon the farm for appellant until November, 1916, and receive as compensation therefor shares of the crops and
“This indenture made this 1st day of March, 1916, by and between George P. Yuich, party of the first part, (second) and Charles Bookhout, party of the second part (first).
“Whereas, the said party of the first part is the owner of the south half (S %) of the southwest quarter (SW %) of section twenty-six (26), twp. twenty-three (23) range forty-five (45), Spokane county, Washington, and has employed the party of the second part to farm the said premises and to live thereon, occupy the same for a period beginning with the 19th day of August, -1915, to the 1st day of November, 1916, and in consideration of the party of the second part performing the work necessary on the said premises, to plow, till, sow, harvest and haul to market the crops to be raised thereon, and perform the work in connection therewith in a careful and husbandlike manner, it is agreed that the party of the first part will pay to the party of the second part for such labor and services, one-third (%) of all crops that are to be raised upon the said premises; that the party of the first part is*514 to provide and furnish the necessary horses, tools, implements and machinery with which to do the work on the said farm, and it is further agreed that the party of the second part shall have one-third (%) of the increase of all live stock that may be on the said premises belonging to the party of the first part, and one-third (%) of the profits arising from the raising of chickens and the sale of eggs.
“It is further agreed that the seed necessary for the sowing for the year 1916 shall be furnished by the party of the first part without expense to the party of the second part, and that thereafter there shall be retained a sufficient amount of grain to feed all livestock upon the said premises and to provide a sufficient amount of seed for the following year.
“It is further agreed that the party of the second part is to devote all of his time upon the said premises, and that if it becomes necessary to employ additional help that such help shall be paid for out of the grain which is to be sold belonging to both parties, and after such expense has been deducted, then the balance shall be divided between the parties as above stated, and that the party of the second part agrees to haul all the grain to be sold to the Town of Eockford and deliver to the party of the first part, two-thirds (%) of the vegetables raised in Spokane and that the delivery of sáid grain and products shall be without expense to the party of the first part; it being fully agreed between the parties hereto that the party of the second part is to receive no compensation for his labor except as above stated.
“It is further agreed that the party of the second part will devote what time he can in cutting wood upon the said premises and is to have one-third (%) of all wood that is cut for his services, and also in consideration thereof, he is to perform what labor he can in the clearing of the said land in pulling stumps, the clearing of brush and the burning of same, which is all to be done without expense to the party of the first part, except first party is to hire one man to assist.
“It is further agreed that the second party shall keep the fences upon the said premises in good repair,*515 performing all labor necessary to be performed without expense to the party of the first part, but that the party of the first part is to furnish all material necessary in connection therewith, and that the party of the second part agrees to perform all and every work on said farm in a suitable and proper manner, and at a seasonable time, and shall obey instructions and orders from the party of the first part in connection with said labor.
“And at the expiration of said term, the said party of the second part will peaceably quit and surrender the said premises in as good state and condition as reasonable use and wear thereof will permit.
“In witness whereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals, the day and year first above written.
“ (Signed) George P. Yuich his
“Charles X Bookhout” mark.
This contract, it will be noticed, relates back to the time of the oral agreement of the parties made in August, 1915, and manifestly was intended to evidence the contract then made, rather than one made at the time of the signing of the writing. While the written contract provides that respondent was entitled to have one-third of the increase of the live stock and one-third of the profits arising from the raising of chickens and sale of eggs, etc., the fact is that there were no live stock or chickens upon the farm when respondent went there in August, 1915, nor when the contract was reduced to writing in March, 1916, nor were any live stock or chickens upon the farm at any time during the term specified in the contract, other than some work horses from which it was not contemplated that there would be any increase, and to which, manifestly, the contract had no reference in so far as the increase of live stock is concerned. Respondent insists that it was understood that appellant was to furnish and put upon
Respondent prayed for reformation of the- written contract so that it would in terms require appellant to furnish arid place upon the farm brood mares, cows, hogs, and chickens in number as claimed by respondent was agreed upon in the fall of 1915. This apparently was intended to be an alternative claim to that of the right to introduce oral evidence to show such to he the meaning of the contract as written. While the trial court, in its findings, in effect decided that the contract should be so reformed, it ignored the question of reformation in the entering of its final judgment, manifestly proceeding upon the theory that the written contract was sufficiently ambiguous on the question of appellant furnishing live stock and chickens to admit oral evidence of what the contract was in that respect, in effect deciding that the meaning of the written contract, in the light of the situation of-the-parties, was
It is contended in appellant’s behalf that the superior court erred in receiving oral evidence of the understanding had between the parties as to the furnishing and placing of live stock and chickens upon the farm by appellant. This contention is rested upon the theory that such evidence violated the rule excluding oral evidence tending to vary or contradict the terms of a ’written contract. It seems -to us, however, that a reading of this contract as a whole, in the light of the situation of the parties, shows that this evidence neither varies nor contradicts the terms thereof, but only explains and renders effective the contract in so far as it provides that respondent should have as part of his compensation one-third of the increase of the live stock and one-third of the profits arising from the raising and sale of chickens and eggs. It seems plain that respondent was not to furnish anything but his labor, while appellant was to furnish everything else necessary to the carrying on of the farm as contemplated by the terms of the contract. We think the contract is, in any event, sufficiently vague and uncertain as to the furnishing of live stock and chickens by ap
It is next contended in appellant’s behalf that the written contract and the oral evidence received in interpretation thereof do not warrant the conclusion that appellant was to furnish live stock and chickens as claimed by respondent. There may be fair room for arguing that the contract between the parties did not call for the furnishing of live stock and chickens for the year 1916 to the extent in numbers as claimed by respondent, since it could be fairly argued from the evidence that the talk between the parties touching that matter in some measure had reference to the furnishing of some live stock and chickens after 1916, it being thought possible that the employment of respondent upon the farm might continue after 1916, though no agreement to that effect was entered into.
It is finally contended in appellant’s behalf that the trial court erred in measuring the amount of respondent’s recovery by the reasonable value of his labor during the period he worked upon appellant’s farm, that is, from August, 1915, to June 15, 1916, when he quit work, the trial court having measured the recovery by the customary wages per month for such work during that period. The argument is, in substance, that, if respondent was entitled to recover at all, it would be in damages measured by the loss of his prospective earnings, if any he could prove, by reason of his having been prevented from completing his term of service as
Recurring to the contract, we find prominent therein these features: (1) Appellant “employed” respondent “to farm the said premises and to live thereon” for the period specified; (2) Appellant agreed that he would “pay to” respondent “for such labor and services” one-third of the crops, one-third of the increase of the live stock, and one-third of the profits arising from the raising and sale of chickens, eggs and other produce; (3) Appellant agreed to provide everything* necessary to that end except labor, while respondent agreed to furnish his labor only; (4) Respondent, by the express terms of contract, was to “devote all his time upon said premises”; (5) Respondent was to labor-as he might find time in clearing the uncleared portion of the land; (6) It was agreed that respondent should “perform all and every work on said farm in a suitable and proper manner, and in a reasonable time, and shall obey instructions and orders from the party of the first part (appellant) in connection with said labor.” We note these features of the written contract to the end that it may be made plain, as we think they do, that it was a contract of employment creating the relation of master and servant, rather than that of landlord and tenant or landlord and cropper.
The views of the courts are seemingly not in harmony touching the legal relation of parties to farming contracts where the tenant, cropper or employee receives a share of the crop or a share of the proceeds thereof as his profit or compensation. This seeming conflict,
“It was not shown in this case that it was impracticable to apportion the value of plaintiff’s services according to the rate of compensation claimed to have been stipulated for, and we are therefore of the opinion that the court below should have instructed the jury that, if they found that the plaintiff performed the services claimed to have been rendered by him under a contract specifying the price to be paid for doing the*523 whole work agreed to he done by him, the measure of his recovery would be such a proportion of the contract price as the work done bore to the whole work embraced by the terms of the agreement, and that the failure to so instruct was error. ’ ’
In Chase v. Smith, 35 Wash. 631, 77 Pac. 1069, we have a somewhat similar situation. There a painter was to paint a certain number of houses for a specified lump sum; the owner was to furnish a certain part of the material and the painter to furnish a certain part of the material. Upon- a breach of the contract by the owner, as in the Noyes case, it was held that the painter was not entitled to recover the reasonable value of his services, but the value of his services measured by the contract price as a whole. In Gabrielson v. Mague Box & Lumber Co., 55 Wash. 342, 104 Pac. 635, 133 Am. St. 1032, some observations are made indicating the view of the court that, upon a breach of a labor contract by the employer, the employee may, if he so elects, sue upon quantum meruit and recover the reasonable value of his labor, citing the Noyes and Chase cases above noticed. This observation is, of course, subject to qualification as applied to varying circumstances, but it is some indication, read in the light of the Noyes and Chase cases, of the view of the court favorable to respondent’s contentions in this case. Now, in the case before us, we think it is readily to be seen that there is no measure other than one of pure guesswork of what would be the amount of respondent’s recovery if he is compelled to look only to his prospective earnings under the contract, in so far as his earnings from the increase of the live stock and that resulting from the raising and sale of chickens and eggs are concerned, and it seems plain that this was to be a very large part of his earnings within the contemplation of the parties
Under all the circumstances here shown, we are constrained to hold that, since the relation between respondent and appellant was that of employer and employee, since the amount of respondent’s recovery would bé so uncertain by the adoption of the measure insisted upon by appellant, since respondent was placed in this position by the fault of appellant, and since respondent is seeking recovery for past services only, we think appellant should not be heard to object to the measuring of respondent’s recovery by reasonable wages for the work actually performed to his benefit. We think it would not be profitable or enlightening to here review the numerous decisions dealing with farm contracts.
The judgment is affirmed.
Ellis, C. J., Webster, Main, and Fullerton, JJ., concur.