The defendant had been employed as agent by the plaintiff to sell property belonging to the plaintiff. The defendant achieved this and was paid his commission, but had also taken a secret commission from the buyer. The plaintiff sought repayment of the commission.
Held: The action succeeded. Where an agent takes a commission secret from his principal, the principal may refuse to pay or recover any commission under the main agency contract. The action for and recovery of the secret commission had not operated as a ratification of the sale.
Citations:
[1903] 72 LJKB 865
Cited by:
Approved – Rhodes v Macalister CA 1923
The plaintiff agent acted to find a seller of mineral rights for the defendant principal. He told his principal that the properties could be purchased for from andpound;8,000 to andpound;10,000. If the agent could find a seller at below . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Agency
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.522275
