Nat Sandler

Aaron B. Holland filed his petition in Fulton Superior Court against Center Chemical Company, Oxford Chemical Corporation, Sanfax Corporation (all Georgia corporations) and The Sanfax Company, a partnership consisting of Nat Sandler and Dave Center, who were also named parties defendant, seeking damages of $600,000, later amended to $1,000,000, for injuries alleged to have been incurred from an explosion resulting from the use of one of defendants' products.
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Each of the defendants filed separate answers; each one except Center Chemical Company and Oxford Chemical Corporation filed a motion for summary judgment, each supported by an affidavit of defendants Dave Center and Nat Sandler, which showed, in substance, the following facts relative to this appeal: Affiants Center and Sandler are chairman of the board and president, respectively, and stockholders of Oxford Chemical Corporation, Center Chemical Company and Sanfax Corporation. On or about September 1, 1959, the partnership, The Sanfax Company, in which the deponents were partners, was terminated. Since that date Sanfax Corporation and Center Chemical Company have been wholly-owned subsidiaries of Oxford Chemical Corporation, and the product in question is manufactured by the parent company, Oxford Chemical Corporation, and sold by Center Chemical Company. "Since the organization of Sanfax Corporation on or about September 1, 1959, it has never sold any products, through any of its salesmen, agents, representatives or employees under any trade name or label except 'Sanfax' and the said Sanfax Corporation has never sold any products under the trade name or label of 'Cento 46' or 'Cento 46 with Komax.' Neither deponent has ever personally manufactured or sold any cleaning product and neither has ever personally manufactured any cleaning product and neither has ever personally manufactured or sold a product known as 'Cento 46' or 'Cento 46 with Komax.' Neither deponent, as a member of a partnership or as an individual proprietor, has manufactured or sold a product known as 'Cento 46' or 'Cento 46 with Komax.' " After the motions for summary judgment and accompanying affidavits were filed, the plaintiff filed an amendment to his petition and a motion to dismiss the defendants' motions for summary judgment. The plaintiff's amendment alleged that each of the defendants had actual knoWledge that the product in question had a propensity and tendency to explode when poured into drain pipes and drain sewers; that Nat Sandler and Dave Center, individually and as officers of Oxford Chemical Corporation, had control, supervision and responsibility for the manufacture, sale, and distribution of the product and with actual knowledge of its dangerous propensity allowed and ordered it to be manufactured, sold, and distributed for the express purpose of being poured into drain pipes and drain sewers; and that each of the individual and corporate defendants did conspire together with each other to manufacture, sell and distribute the product for the express purpose of being poured into drain pipes and drain sewers, with actual knowledge of the aforesaid dangerous propensity. The plaintiff in error excepts to each of the judgments, excepting that one granting the motion for summary judgment of defendant, The Sanfax Company.
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The allegations of the amendment that Nat Sandler, individually and as president, and Dave Center individually and as chairman of the board, of Oxford Chemical Corporation, controlled and ordered the manufacture, sale and distribution of "New Cento 46, Super Action, with Komax" for the express purpose of being poured into drain pipes and drain sewers, charges these individuals with wrongful acts done in the prosecution of the business of Oxford Chemical Corporation, which would make them personally liable. Southern R. Co. v. Sewell, 18 Ga. App. 544 (90 SE 94); Atlantic C. L. R. Co. v. Knight, 48 Ga. App. 53 (171 SE 919); Southern R. Co. v. Smith, 55 Ga. App. 689 (191 SE 181); Risby v. Sharp-Boylston Co., 62 Ga. App. 101 (7 SE2d 917); Stapleton v. Stapleton, 85 Ga. App. 728, 730 (70 SE2d 156). Accord Borochoff v. Fowler, 98 Ga. App. 411, 414 (105 SE2d 764); Echols v. Chattooga Mercantile Co., 74 Ga. App. 18 (38 SE2d 675). The amendment's allegations charging that the defendants conspired together do not aid the plaintiff's right to recover from the movants on account of negligence, in which the element of intent is absent. An allegation of a conspiracy to commit negligence is a non sequitur. "There can be no conspiracy without a purpose, express or implied, to do something unlawful, oppressive, or immoral . . . the element of wrongful intent must be as fully proven as the element of confederating. 1 Eddy on Combinations, 240. The affidavit of Nat Sandler and Dave Center states that neither of them has ever personally or as a member of a partnership or as an individual proprietor, manufactured or sold any cleaning product or the product in question. The plaintiff presented nothing in opposition to this affidavit nor did he seek to call upon the exercise of the trial court's discretion under Code Ann. 110-1206. See Studstill v. Aetna Cas. &c. Co., 101 Ga. App. 766, supra; 6 Moore's Federal Practice, 2343-2350, 5624. However, the affidavit of Sandler and Center in no way refutes the allegation of the petition, as amended, that Sandler and Center individually and as corporate officers controlled and ordered the manufacture, sale, and distribution of the product, and there remains a genuine issue as to these material facts concerning the cause of action for negligence against Sandler and Center. The affidavit of Nat Sandler and Dave Center further states that the defendant Sanfax Corporation, a corporation in which they are president and chairman of the board of directors, respectively, has never sold the product in question nor has it ever sold the product through any of its salesmen, agents, representatives or employees. This evidence, being unrefuted, shows that as to the Sanfax Corporation there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and therefore it would have been entitled to a summary judgment as a matter of law with respect to the cause of action for negligence. 3. The allegations of the amendment also inject into the petition a second tort of a different kind. The petition as amended alleges that Nat Sandler and Dave Center controlled and ordered the manufacture, sale, and distribution of, and Center Chemical Company and Oxford Chemical Corporation manufactured, sold and distributed, a product inherently dangerous when used for cleaning drains and recommended it to plaintiff for this use.
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The affidavit in support of summary judgment in no way refutes the intentional tort alleged against Nat Sandler, Dave Center, Oxford Chemical Corporation, and Center Chemical Corporation. Nor does the affidavit refute the alleged conspiracy to commit this unlawful act between these defendants and the Sanfax Corporation. Therefore, there remains a genuine issue of fact as to the intentional tort alleged against Nat Sandler, Dave Center, Oxford Chemical Corporation, and Center Chemical Corporation. There also remains a genuine issue of fact as to the alleged conspiracy to commit this unlawful act between Nat Sandler, Dave Center, Oxford Chemical Corporation, Center Chemical Corporation, and Sanfax Corporation.

Aaron B. Holland filed his petition in Fulton Superior Court against Center Chemical Company, Oxford Chemical Corporation, Sanfax Corporation (all Georgia corporations) and The Sanfax Company, a partnership consisting of Nat Sandler and Dave Center, who were also named parties defendant, seeking damages of $600,000, later amended to $1,000,000, for injuries alleged to have been incurred from an explosion resulting from the use of one of defendants' products.
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Each of the defendants filed separate answers; each one except Center Chemical Company and Oxford Chemical Corporation filed a motion for summary judgment, each supported by an affidavit of defendants Dave Center and Nat Sandler, which showed, in substance, the following facts relative to this appeal: Affiants Center and Sandler are chairman of the board and president, respectively, and stockholders of Oxford Chemical Corporation, Center Chemical Company and Sanfax Corporation. On or about September 1, 1959, the partnership, The Sanfax Company, in which the deponents were partners, was terminated. Since that date Sanfax Corporation and Center Chemical Company have been wholly-owned subsidiaries of Oxford Chemical Corporation, and the product in question is manufactured by the parent company, Oxford Chemical Corporation, and sold by Center Chemical Company. "Since the organization of Sanfax Corporation on or about September 1, 1959, it has never sold any products, through any of its salesmen, agents, representatives or employees under any trade name or label except 'Sanfax' and the said Sanfax Corporation has never sold any products under the trade name or label of 'Cento 46' or 'Cento 46 with Komax.' Neither deponent has ever personally manufactured or sold any cleaning product and neither has ever personally manufactured any cleaning product and neither has ever personally manufactured or sold a product known as 'Cento 46' or 'Cento 46 with Komax.' Neither deponent, as a member of a partnership or as an individual proprietor, has manufactured or sold a product known as 'Cento 46' or 'Cento 46 with Komax.' " After the motions for summary judgment and accompanying affidavits were filed, the plaintiff filed an amendment to his petition and a motion to dismiss the defendants' motions for summary judgment. The plaintiff's amendment alleged that each of the defendants had actual knoWledge that the product in question had a propensity and tendency to explode when poured into drain pipes and drain sewers; that Nat Sandler and Dave Center, individually and as officers of Oxford Chemical Corporation, had control, supervision and responsibility for the manufacture, sale, and distribution of the product and with actual knowledge of its dangerous propensity allowed and ordered it to be manufactured, sold, and distributed for the express purpose of being poured into drain pipes and drain sewers; and that each of the individual and corporate defendants did conspire together with each other to manufacture, sell and distribute the product for the express purpose of being poured into drain pipes and drain sewers, with actual knowledge of the aforesaid dangerous propensity. The plaintiff in error excepts to each of the judgments, excepting that one granting the motion for summary judgment of defendant, The Sanfax Company.
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The allegations of the amendment that Nat Sandler, individually and as president, and Dave Center individually and as chairman of the board, of Oxford Chemical Corporation, controlled and ordered the manufacture, sale and distribution of "New Cento 46, Super Action, with Komax" for the express purpose of being poured into drain pipes and drain sewers, charges these individuals with wrongful acts done in the prosecution of the business of Oxford Chemical Corporation, which would make them personally liable. Southern R. Co. v. Sewell, 18 Ga. App. 544 (90 SE 94); Atlantic C. L. R. Co. v. Knight, 48 Ga. App. 53 (171 SE 919); Southern R. Co. v. Smith, 55 Ga. App. 689 (191 SE 181); Risby v. Sharp-Boylston Co., 62 Ga. App. 101 (7 SE2d 917); Stapleton v. Stapleton, 85 Ga. App. 728, 730 (70 SE2d 156). Accord Borochoff v. Fowler, 98 Ga. App. 411, 414 (105 SE2d 764); Echols v. Chattooga Mercantile Co., 74 Ga. App. 18 (38 SE2d 675).
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The affidavit of Nat Sandler and Dave Center states that neither of them has ever personally or as a member of a partnership or as an individual proprietor, manufactured or sold any cleaning product or the product in question. The plaintiff presented nothing in opposition to this affidavit nor did he seek to call upon the exercise of the trial court's discretion under Code Ann. 110-1206. See Studstill v. Aetna Cas. &c. Co., 101 Ga. App. 766, supra; 6 Moore's Federal Practice, 2343-2350, 5624. However, the affidavit of Sandler and Center in no way refutes the allegation of the petition, as amended, that Sandler and Center individually and as corporate officers controlled and ordered the manufacture, sale, and distribution of the product, and there remains a genuine issue as to these material facts concerning the cause of action for negligence against Sandler and Center. The affidavit of Nat Sandler and Dave Center further states that the defendant Sanfax Corporation, a corporation in which they are president and chairman of the board of directors, respectively, has never sold the product in question nor has it ever sold the product through any of its salesmen, agents, representatives or employees. This evidence, being unrefuted, shows that as to the Sanfax Corporation there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and therefore it would have been entitled to a summary judgment as a matter of law with respect to the cause of action for negligence. 3. The allegations of the amendment also inject into the petition a second tort of a different kind. The petition as amended alleges that Nat Sandler and Dave Center controlled and ordered the manufacture, sale, and distribution of, and Center Chemical Company and Oxford Chemical Corporation manufactured, sold and distributed, a product inherently dangerous when used for cleaning drains and recommended it to plaintiff for this use.
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The affidavit in support of summary judgment in no way refutes the intentional tort alleged against Nat Sandler, Dave Center, Oxford Chemical Corporation, and Center Chemical Corporation. Nor does the affidavit refute the alleged conspiracy to commit this unlawful act between these defendants and the Sanfax Corporation. Therefore, there remains a genuine issue of fact as to the intentional tort alleged against Nat Sandler, Dave Center, Oxford Chemical Corporation, and Center Chemical Corporation. There also remains a genuine issue of fact as to the alleged conspiracy to commit this unlawful act between Nat Sandler, Dave Center, Oxford Chemical Corporation, Center Chemical Corporation, and Sanfax Corporation.