Source: https://casetext.com/case/tiffany-v-pacific-sewer-pipe-co
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 22:36:35+00:00

Document:
Tiffany v. Pacific Sewer Pipe Co.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. G.W. Nicol, Judge Presiding. Reversed.
Plaintiff sued for damages caused by an alleged wrongful discharge of plaintiff from the defendant's service. The court below made findings and entered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for $3,617.17, being the full amount prayed for in the complaint. Defendant appeals.
"In consideration of the above provisions Mr. Tiffany will not hold the Pacific Sewer Pipe Company liable under said contract, in case for any reason the Pacific Sewer Pipe Company are unable to turn out enameled and glazed brick in quantities equal to the present quality and satisfactory to the Pacific Sewer Pipe Company.
"In the latter case Mr. Tiffany is to have ninety days notice before making a change."
Tiffany was discharged on May 10, 1915, without notice. The court found that up to that time plaintiff had fully performed his contract with a reasonable degree of skill and that the defendant, after the making of the contract, was at all times able to turn out enameled and glazed brick in quantities, equal to the quality which was being turned out on May 11, 1914, and which was satisfactory to said defendant. It is claimed that this finding is contrary to the evidence.
In the making of brick, the mud or clay is first pressed and molded to the shape desired, the glaze or enamel is then applied, and when a sufficient quantity to fill a kiln is thus prepared, the bricks are placed in the kiln and burned to the required degree. The principal duty of the plaintiff was to prepare and mix the glaze or enamel so that it would, when burned, have the hardness and other qualities necessary to make it durable and the brick salable. The glaze or enamel was a liquid into which the bricks were dipped so as to form a coat of the liquid on their surfaces.
The next section declares: "The rule stated in the preceding section is also applied to cases of operative fitness or mechanical utility when the contract clearly provides that performance shall be satisfactory to the promisor." Similar statements will be found in 9 Cyc., at pages 618, 619, and 620.
The decisions in this state have not attempted to state the rule with reference to cases like the present. In Coplew v. Durand, 153 Cal. 278, [16 L.R.A. (N.S.) 791, 95 P. 38], which involved a building contract, there were elaborate plans and specifications, as is usual in such cases, and the work was "to be done to the entire satisfaction of the owner and the architect." Before each payment was made a certificate was to be obtained signed by the architect. After the work was done both owner and architect stated that they were satisfied with it, but the architect refused to make a certificate. It appeared that the work was done conformable to the plans and specifications. The court merely held that under the circumstances the refusal of the certificate was unreasonable and that the contractor was entitled to recover as if it had been issued. In Gladding etc. Co. v. Montgomery, 20 Cal.App. 279, [ 128 P. 792], the district court of appeal remarked that "the stipulation in a contract to perfrom to the satisfaction of one of the parties only calls for such performance as should be satisfactory to a reasonable person." This remark also referred to a building contract and with reference to portions of the work already done. Furthermore, it was an obiter dictum, the question not being involved in the case. In Bryan Elevator Co. v. Law, 31 Cal.App. 205, [ 160 P. 170], a building contract was also under consideration. The plaintiff agreed to construct an elevator in the defendant's building, that its operation "shall give satisfaction in every particular," and that if the controlling device proved unsatisfactory, plaintiff would replace it with another "satisfactory to the owner." The court followed the rule applying to building contracts in general and held that the contract only called "for such performance as should be satisfactory to a reasonable person." In other cases, where the question of judgment was involved, the opposite rule has been applied. In Parkside Realty Co. v. MacDonald, 166 Cal. 426, [ 137 P. 21.], a real estate contract, the seller agreed to make the title satisfactory to the buyer and his attorneys. The court said that the question was "not whether the title was in fact a good and marketable one, but whether it was acceptable to respondent and his attorneys," citing Allen v. Pockwitz, 103 Cal. 88, [42 Am. St. Rep. 99, 36 P. 1039], and Church v. Shanklin, 95 Cal. 627, [17 L.R.A. 207, 30 P. 789]. The two cases cited involved a similar question and were to the same effect.
The contract in the present case was an executory one. The question does not involve the acceptance of any work already done by Tiffany under his employment. He was discharged from further employment because the defendant was not satisfied with the quality of his work. There is no sufficient evidence to support the finding that the defendant was satisfied with his work. During the time of his service many kilns of brick were burned which were glazed by him, and there is evidence as to some of these that the defendant's manager expressed himself satisfied. But there is no evidence, and no declaration or admission by any person authorized to speak for the defendant, that it was satisfied with his work as a whole. The contract authorized the defendant to discharge the plaintiff if his work was not satisfactory as a whole, although at times he might be producing brick of the finest quality. The object of the defendant in employing the plaintiff was to obtain glazed and enameled brick for sale to its customers. The quantity of good brick produced out of each kiln, that is, the proportion of good brick to bad brick therein, was an important matter to them. For example, there is evidence that one customer agreed to buy 1815 glazed brick known as "bull-nosed," that is, with one or more corners rounded, that the glaze was mixed and applied by plaintiff and fifteen thousand bricks were so glazed and burned in order to obtain 1,815 good ones. Other evidence fixed the number burned for that job at five thousand, to obtain the required number. Quality was also important, for if the glaze was not rightly mixed it would scale off, or crack, after being burned, and if the color or transparency was not satisfactory to purchasers, the brick would not be as easily sold. All these matters would of necessity be determinable by the taste or judgment of the defendant's manager. And as their experience in the business was an essential element in the exercise of that judgment, it could not have been intended that some other person's judgment should determine the question of satisfactory performance. An express stipulation or necessary implication would be necessary to give such a contract that meaning. This contract neither declares it directly, nor requires it by implication. The terms of the contract imply that the defendant was not compelled to be satisfied if the quality produced equaled that which was being produced at the time the contract was made. The addition of the phrase "and satisfactory to the Pacific Sewer Pipe Company" implied a complete satisfaction and authorized the defendant to reject the brick or discharge Tiffany under the terms of the contract if for any reason of any character the quality or quantity of the product was not satisfactory. We think the contract falls within the rule applicable to cases where the judgment of the promisor is involved, and that his decision that he is not satisfied is conclusive on the other party and upon the court to which the question is presented.
The judgment for the amount awarded cannot be supported without the finding in question. None of the other findings supplies its place. The appeal must therefore be sustained.
Olney, J., and Lawlor, J., concurred.

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