## Facts

- Patrick Dempsey ordered coal from James Chambers, a coal dealer.
- A third party, McCullock, who was not employed or authorized by Chambers, voluntarily delivered the coal to Dempsey’s home without Chambers’s knowledge.
- While unloading the coal, McCullock negligently broke one of Dempsey’s plate-glass windows.
- After learning the coal had been delivered and the window broken during unloading, Chambers sent Dempsey a bill demanding payment for the delivered coal.
- Dempsey sued Chambers in tort for the property damage, claiming Chambers was liable because he ratified the delivery.

## Issues

1. Whether a principal who, with knowledge of material facts, ratifies an unauthorized act by accepting its benefits becomes liable for a tort committed by the actor in performing that act.
2. Whether ratification relates back so that the principal is treated as having authorized the act from the outset for purposes of tort liability.

## Decision

- The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed judgment for Dempsey.
- The court held that Chambers’s knowing demand for payment after the unauthorized delivery constituted ratification.
- Because ratification relates back and is equivalent to prior authority, Chambers was liable for McCullock’s negligence committed in the course of making the delivery.

## Legal Principles

- A principal may adopt an act done on the principal’s behalf even if it was originally unauthorized; a knowing adoption is ratification.
- Ratification, when made with knowledge of material facts, is treated as equivalent to prior authorization and relates back to the time of the act.
- Ratification is not limited to contractual consequences; it also carries liability for torts committed in executing the ratified transaction.
- A principal cannot accept the benefits of an unauthorized transaction while disclaiming responsibility for harms caused in carrying it out.

## Conclusion

By demanding payment for the coal with knowledge of the unauthorized delivery and resulting damage, Chambers ratified the delivery and became liable in tort for the negligent act committed during that delivery.


Dempsey v. Chambers, 154 Mass. 330, 28 N.E. 279 (1891)