30 Barb. 218 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1859
The referee by whom this cause was tried, has put his decision expressly on the case of Randall v. Van Vechten and others, (19 John. 60.) In that case the defendants were a committee of a municipal corporation, and contracted for work to be done for the benefit of their principals, the city of Albany, by agreement under their private seals. In this case, the committee have contracted in like manner for a religious corporation. There is nothing, I think, in the point that the defendants, in the case of Randall v. Van Vechten, were public agents. They were agents of a corporation just as liable to be sued as any private corporation. The irresponsibility which protects public officers, and other agents of government, acting witnin the scope of their authority, does not apply in favor of the agents of such corporations. Persons assuming to contract as agents for corporations, as well as for individuals, must see to it that their principals are legally bound by their acts ; otherwise the
T. R. Strong, Welles and Smith, Justices.]