Opinion ID: 2323193
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The court erred in charging the jury on agency.

Text: Since there was a claim that Loewenstein had advised Smith, plaintiffs' real estate salesman, of the inadequacies of the former's permit drawings, Joseph requested, and the trial judge instructed the jury that there is no duty to warn over inadequacies in the bulkhead plans if the plaintiffs had knowledge of the inadequacies or are charged with that knowledge. The purport being that if Smith is an agent of plaintiffs, his knowledge of the bulkhead's underdesign is imputable to them. The trial court, which had earlier denied Joseph's motion to amend its pleading to include the defense of contributory negligence, ruled that such agency was not required by Superior Court Rule 8(c) to be specifically plead as an affirmative defense. Plaintiffs contend that this is a back-door method of invoking contributory negligence. Plaintiffs argue that by Lowe v. Hulliger, Del.Super., 83 A.2d 698, 700 (1951), agency is an affirmative defense and must be plead affirmatively. However, a closer analysis of Lowe shows that the affirmative pleading was required there because the defense was an avoidance, i.e., that one signing a contract, while purporting to be an agent, was actually a principal. Basically, the defense claims that plaintiffs vicariously knew of the defects in the plans, thus were contributorily negligent in allowing the construction. If that is so, they argue, any negligence by defendants does not give rise to liability. While couched in terms of agency, this defense clearly, is a back-door method by Joseph of arguing contributory negligence. The defendants advance several arguments supporting the propriety of this duty-to-warn instruction. First, defendants contend that notice to agent is not an affirmative defense but a denial of the failure to warn claim. However, only Loewenstein can make this argument successfully. The only duty to warn here was allegedly on the part of Loewenstein, who had knowledge of the defects in the plans. However, if plaintiffs already had knowledge, there would be no duty to warn. Plaintiffs' knowledge can either be direct or by imputation through their agent, Smith. Vechery v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Ins. Co., Del.Supr., 121 A.2d 681, 684 (1956). By Superior Court Civil Rule 8(c), contributory negligence must be affirmatively plead, and Joseph's efforts to amend its pleadings to include this defense were unsuccessful. Joseph argues that when evidence is admitted without objection, the pleadings are impliedly amended to conform to the evidence under Filliben v. Jackson, Del.Supr., 247 A.2d 913 (1968). Plaintiff did object to Smith's testimony, which was admitted through a reading of his deposition, but the grounds for objection are unclear, and it seems that the objection was not directed to the issue of contributory negligence, but on the use of a non-party deposition. Under such circumstances we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion.