An artist was to be employed as a ‘panorama and scene-painter’ for a period of at least a month.
Held: The employer was entitled to terminate the contract after two days when the artist proved to be incompetent. Willes J said: ‘When a skilled labourer, artizan, or artist is employed, there is on his part an implied warranty that he is of skill reasonably competent to the task he undertakes, – Spondes peritiam artis. Thus, if an apothecary, a watch-maker or an attorney be employed for reward, they each impliedly undertake to possess and exercise reasonable skill in their several arts. The public profession of an art is a representation and undertaking to all the world that the professor possesses the requisite ability and skill.’
Judges:
Willes J
Citations:
(1858) 5 CB (NS) 236
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Platform Funding Ltd v Bank of Scotland Plc (Formerly Halifax Plc) CA 31-Jul-2008
The parties disputed the extent of duty owed by a surveyor to a lender relying on his valuation of a property to be loaned.
Held: The valuer’s appeal failed. The valuer had valued the wrong property, after being misled by the borrower. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment, Contract
Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.279927