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Susemiehl v. Red River Lumber Co.
Illinois Appellate Court
28 N.E.2d 743 (1940)
Facts
Walter Gehrke (defendant) was in an automobile accident that killed Walter Susemiehl. Gehrke was a salesman for Red River Lumber Company (Red River) (defendant). Henry Susemiehl (plaintiff), the administrator of Walter Susemiehl’s estate, brought a wrongful-death suit against Gehrke and Red River. Red River argued that, at the time of the accident, Gehrke was not acting within the scope of his employment. Thus, Red River claimed that it was not vicariously liable for Gehrke’s conduct. In order to rebut this claim, Henry introduced a report written by J. P. Rinn, the managing officer of Red River. In the report, Rinn stated that, at the time of the accident, Gehrke was driving his car on regular company business. Rinn did not have personal knowledge as to whether Gehrke was engaged in regular company business at the time of the accident. The trial-court judge admitted Rinn’s out-of-court statement into evidence. Subsequently, the jury ruled in favor of Henry. Red River appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Wolfe, J.)
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