Opinion ID: 32797
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Wal-Mart’s Breach of Warranty Claim

Text: The district court held that Wal-Mart breached its warranty to provide the Goldstar merchandise new, undamaged and in original boxes. The district court nonetheless declined to award damages for that breach because it also found that BSA had not produced sufficient evidence to establish the damages caused by that breach. BSA contends that the district court erred because BSA’s former Chief Financial Officer Peter Streit offered sufficient testimony to support a damage award. Streit testified that $151,000 was a “fair price reduction” for the non-conforming character of some of the Goldstar merchandise. Streit’s testimony was based generally on his familiarity with the market and the condition of the Goldstar merchandise when received. Streit did not offer any detailed accounting of how that figure was 8 Although the district court purported to find the alleged oral agreement unenforceable as a matter of law prior to trial, BSA concedes that the district court received and considered substantial evidence concerning the existence of the agreement at trial. 18 determined. Wal-Mart offered evidence tending to establish that some set-offs had already been credited to the BSA/ITT account. We review the district court’s fact finding that BSA failed to prove ascertainable damages for clear error. Nichols v. Petroleum Helicopters, Inc., 17 F.3d 119, 121 (5th Cir. 1994). The district court expressly rejected Streit’s testimony as less than credible. The district court’s credibility determination is deserving of great deference. Burma Navigation Corp. v. Reliant Seahorse MV, 99 F.3d 652, 657 (5th Cir. 1996). When the district court decides to credit the testimony of one witness over another, the resulting decision “can virtually never be clear error. Id. (internal quotations omitted). Having reviewed the record and the arguments offered by the parties, we are not persuaded that the district court’s refusal to award damages for breach of warranty was error.