Exam 14: Breach of Contract and Remedies

Princess Alicia hires Renaldo,the artist,to paint her portrait.The two disagreed.Renaldo said,"I'm done!" He left the palace.What did Renaldo's actions constitute?

Marnie fails to deliver any of the fruit pies she had contracted to make for Benny's Bakery.If Benny really wanted the pies,and felt that Marnie would be able to meet her commitments,he could choose to treat the breach of condition as if it were a breach of warranty.

Antoine,a bush pilot,agrees to ferry an exploration crew from Gamma Oil to a remote part of Alberta in his helicopter,and to retrieve them a month later.Three weeks into the bush,the Gamma team learn through listening to local radio chatter on their short-wave radio that Antoine has sold his helicopter to a pilot in New Brunswick.Antoine is in breach of contract.

Joe agreed to hire Ron to shovel his sidewalk but they did not agree on a price.Ron shovelled the snow but they could not agree on a price.Does quantum meruit apply?

Nature's Flowers is required,as a condition of their contract,to supply the Ubiquitous Chip,a trendy restaurant,with 45 flower arrangements for tables and three large displays,twice a week.This week,it was two table arrangements short one day and three short on the other.The Ubiquitous Chip can argue that Nature's Flowers have breached a condition of the contract and treat the contract as being at an end,which means they would not have to pay for the flowers delivered.

Eric was painting the interior of Erna's house.While he was painting,Erna was constantly nattering at him.One day,he quietly packed up all of his equipment,waved good-bye and left.He had almost completed the job and had two walls left in the small bedroom.What did Eric's actions constitute?

Mardo,a brilliant cloth designer,contracted to work for Texture,a textiles company that is world famous for its superb materials.A clause in the employment contract says Mardo will not work for anyone else but Texture for the five-year period of their contract.Shortly after starting to work for Texture,Mardo realizes she has always wanted to be a doctor and that,if she does not start soon,she will never achieve her goal.Texture refuses to let her out of the contract and points out that she has promised not to work for anyone else but them.Mardo leaves anyway. Discuss whether Texture can get an injunction to stop Mardo working as a cocktail waitress while she puts herself through medical school.

Trendy Imports entered into a contract on June 1^st with Neat Things,a small upscale gift shop,to supply it with 100 tooled leather boxes.Delivery was to be made on September 15^th so that the boxes could be on display in the store by October 15^th,ready for the pre-Christmas rush.On August 6^th,Trendy notified Neat Things that it seemed that a dock strike in Italy was holding up the shipment and,if the boat on which they were loaded could not leave port within a very few days,Trendy would not be able to make the delivery on September 15^th. Suppose Neat Things does nothing immediately,the boat sails and the delivery would have been made on time,but the boat sinks in a hurricane on August 23^rd.

Andrew,a carpenter,entered into a contract with Steven for the construction of a garage on Steven's property for $5,000.Andrew had constructed the entire garage except for the small door,when he refused to complete the contract.Andrew's refusal to complete the agreement would entitle Steven to treat the contract as being at an end.He may therefore refuse to pay Andrew for his work.

Robin offered to sell her 10-speed touring bicycle to Felicia for $200 on her return from a two-week bicycle trip to a distant city.At the end of the first week,Felicia received a long distance telephone call from Robin,in which Robin advised Felicia that she had decided not to sell the bicycle on her return.Felicia was disappointed,as a similar bicycle on the market would cost her at least $250.She decided to wait until Robin returned then urge her to go through with the sale.Before Robin reached home,her bicycle was stolen,and never found.Robin's decision not to proceed with the sale was an express repudiation of the contract.

Marnie fails to deliver any of the fruit pies she had contracted to make for Benny's Bakery.Since this is a breach of a condition of the contract,Benny is released from any obligations he has under the contract,and the contract is at an end.

Marnie fails to deliver any of the fruit pies she had contracted to make for Benny's Bakery.If Benny treated Marnie's failure to perform as a breach of warranty,the contract would not end but,to the extent that Marnie's breach had caused him injury,she would have to pay Benny damages.

Jackson Asphalt Co.Ltd.had been informed of upcoming requirements of the Ministry of Transportation for the supply of $600 000 worth of asphalt for a nearby road project.To comply with the requirements for tenders,Jackson Asphalt was required to have their bid submitted to the Minister of Transport no later than 3 p.m.on October 2^nd of that year.Jackson Asphalt prepared their bid,and contacted Swisher Couriers Limited and requested them to pick up the envelope.Swisher attended at the Jackson offices at 12 noon on October 1,and their driver was met by an engineer of Jackson Asphalt."I do not know if you can do this or not,but this must get to the addressee by 3 p.m.tomorrow.If you can do it,that's great,it will save me driving up myself." In response the driver said,"Well,we have our noon next day service." The engineer answered,"Well,noon would be three hours grace,do you have any problem doing that?" The driver responded,"They probably build in a little lead time anyway,but I do not think they would advertise it if we could not come through." The engineer nodded and the driver handed him the bill of lading.The engineer filled it out,marked it as a tender,and removed his copy.On it was a clause which read in fine print,"Maximum liability $2 per pound,not responsible for any further loss,damage,or injury,however caused." The envelope arrived at provincial capital at 11:00 a.m.the following morning but missed the local routine morning deliveries.The envelope was finally delivered at 3:25 p.m.that day,but was rejected by the government clerk as not being submitted in time.As matters would have it,when the tenders were opened,had the tender from Jackson Asphalt been delivered on time,it would have received the government contract and would have made a profit of $85,000.On learning this,Jackson Asphalt Co.Ltd.brought suit against Swisher Courier Ltd.,for the amount of its lost profits. Discuss the issues with respect to breach of contract that arise in this case,and render a decision.