Court Opinion

ID: 9793219
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:44:31.55795+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:03:58.398505
License: Public Domain

STRUCKMEYER, Vice Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I do not agree with the disposition of this case, believing that the summary judgment granted in the court below should be affirmed.
Charles B. Lairmore, Assistant General Manager of Best Fertilizer, by affidavit of April 17, 1978, quoted supra, stated that there was an understanding between Glenn Lane and Best Fertilizer that CSR Farm would not be obligated to pay the 1975 cotton crop chemical bill until, among other events, any disaster credits were received from the federal government. Thereafter, appellee, Elias M. Romley, in an affidavit dated May 2, 1978, stated that Glenn Lane “never had any authority to enter into any such agreement.”
CSR Farm was engaged in the business of farming. There is no assertion by Best Fertilizer that Glenn Lane was the general agent for CSR Farm, only that Glenn Lane planted, managed and grew the crops for CSR Farm. Appellee Romley by his affidavit established that Glenn Lane was not authorized to enter into any agreement binding CSR Farm relative to the payment of claims against it. Therefore, the issue in the case which appellant failed to contradict was not whether there was an understanding between Glenn Lane and Best Fertilizer as to the payment of the chemical bill, but whether Glenn Lane was acting within the scope of his authority if he actually spoke on behalf of CSR Farm in this matter.
If a motion for summary judgment is supported by proof of specific facts which would defeat a claim, the claimant must come forward to show the existence of a genuine factual issue. Joseph v. Markovitz, 27 Ariz.App. 122, 551 P.2d 571 (1976). Appellant, Best Fertilizer, in order to defeat the appellees’ motion for summary judgment, had the burden of showing at this point that there was a genuine issue of fact as to whether Glenn Lane was acting within the scope of his authority as the appellees’ agent. This it could have done, were it true, by taking the deposition of Glenn Lane. Since the appellant failed to establish that it had the right to rely on an agreement with Glenn Lane, it is my view that the trial court did not err in entering a summary judgment in favor of appellees.