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WPI 50.03 Act of Agent Is Act of Principal

6 WAPRAC WPI 50.03Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

6 Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 50.03 (7th ed.)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil
April 2022 Update
Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions
Part VI. Agency and Partnership—Torts
Chapter 50. Agency and Partnership—Torts
WPI 50.03 Act of Agent Is Act of Principal
Any act or omission of an agent within the scope of [apparent] authority is the act or omission of the principal.
NOTE ON USE
For the scope of this instruction, see WPI 50.00 (Introduction).
Depending on the questions in issue, use this instruction with one or more of the following instructions: WPI 50.01 (Agent and Principal—Definition), WPI 50.02 (Agent—Scope of Authority Defined), or WPI 50.02.01 (Agent—Scope of Apparent Authority Defined).
Use the bracketed language as appropriate.
COMMENT
A principal may generally be held liable for the tortious acts of the agent if such acts are performed within the scope of employment, although the principal may not know or approve of them. Titus v. Tacoma Smeltermen's Union Local No. 25, 62 Wn.2d 461, 469, 383 P.2d 504 (1963) (citing Restatement (Second) of Agency § 219 (1958)).
The principal is held vicariously liable if the agent's acts were committed within the scope of either actual or apparent authority. Actual and apparent authority are distinct concepts:
An agent's authority to bind his principal may be of two types: actual or apparent. Actual authority may be express or implied. Implied authority is actual authority, circumstantially proved, which the principal is deemed to have actually intended the agent to possess. Both actual and apparent authority depends upon objective manifestations made by the principal. With actual authority, the principal's objective manifestations are made to the agent; with apparent authority, they are made to a third person.
King v. Riveland, 125 Wn.2d 500, 507, 886 P.2d 160 (1994) (citations omitted).
[Current as of November 2021.]
End of Document