Noble v. Williams - 150 Ky. 439, 150 S.W. 507 (1912)

Rule:

A teacher of a common school who voluntarily pays rent for the schoolhouse and furnishes fuel and supplies necessary to the conduct of the school, cannot recover the amount so expended in an action against the school board. In contracting and paying these obligations the teacher was a volunteer. If the board made it impossible to conduct the school by failing to furnish a place to conduct it, the teacher had a right of action upon his contract. He had no right to voluntarily pay an obligation which was not his.

Facts:

Appellee school board failed to pay the rent for a school or provide funds to pay for the operating expenses of the school. Appellant teachers paid for the rent and for the supplies without any request from the board nor any promise of reimbursement by the board. Appellants filed an action against the school board to collect the amount that they had paid. The circuit court sustained the board's demurrer to the complainant. Appellants sought review. 

Issue:

Under the circumstances, could the appellants collect the amount that they had paid from the appellee school board? 

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

On appeal, the court affirmed. The court ruled that in paying for the expenses, the teachers had acted as volunteers. No man entirely of his own volition can make another his debtor. The school board could have been required by mandamus, at the suit of any proper party, to furnish a place for the conduct of the school. The teachers had no right to supply it themselves, and then recover the rent. They had their teaching contract; and if the board made it impossible for them to teach by failing to furnish a place for conducting the school, they had their right of action on their contract, subject to the customary principles involved in such cases. They adopted neither of these courses, but instead voluntarily paid an obligation which was not theirs.