G. A. C. Commercial Corp. v. Wilson
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
271 F. Supp. 242 (1967)
- Written by Tom Syverson, JD
Facts
St. Lawrence Pulp & Paper Corp. (St. Lawrence) pretended to load goods into railroad cars for shipping by St. Lawrence’s carrier, Norwood & St. Lawrence Railroad Co. (Norwood) (defendant), and then sealed the empty cars. Unaware of the fraud, Norwood signed non-negotiable bills of lading, known as straight bills of lading, saying it had received the goods for these shipments. G.A.C. Commercial Corp. (GAC) (plaintiff) loaned money to St. Lawrence using St. Lawrence’s accounts receivable as collateral. As proof of the value of the accounts receivable, St. Lawrence gave GAC copies of the incorrect bills of lading issued by Norwood for the nonexistent interstate and intrastate shipments. St. Lawrence went bankrupt. GAC sued Norwood for negligence, arguing that Norwood failed to inspect the fake shipments and negligently signed the incorrect bills of lading. Norwood moved for summary judgment.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Bryan, J.)
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