Court Opinion

ID: 9457766
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 20:32:37.595408+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:30.195664
License: Public Domain

SEITZ, Chief Judge
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
The district court dismissed the complaint on the single ground that the plaintiff failed to prove recoverable damages. The basis for its ruling was that the particular risk of loss was not reasonably foreseeable when the principal’s instructions were given. Insofar as the complaint sounds in contract, I agree with the district court’s disposition as a matter of fact and of Pennsylvania law. However, this does not end the matter because plaintiff also asserted a negligence claim against defendant.
A principal may sue his agent in tort as well as contract. Restatement, Second, Agency Chapter 13, Topic 1. Duties. When he does so in Pennsylvania the reasonably foreseeable test is inapplicable because that state has adopted the “Substantial Factor” rule of the Restatement, Second, Torts § 435, quoted the opinion of the court. I would therefore affirm the judgment insofar as the contract claim is concerned but reverse and remand for a determination of the issue of tort liability and, if found, whether damages were established under the Restatement Rule.