Opinion ID: 1234083
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Conflict with Civil Code section 3300 and other statutes

Text: The majority's conclusion is especially troubling because it directly conflicts with Civil Code section 3300, which states: For the breach of an obligation arising from contract, the measure of damages, except where otherwise expressly provided by this code, is the amount which will compensate the party aggrieved for all the detriment proximately caused thereby, or which, in the ordinary course of things, would be likely to result therefrom. (Italics added.) Although this statute has been in its present form for more than a century (since 1873) and is bedrock California contract law, the majority opinion barely mentions it. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1033, fn. 13.) I believe Civil Code section 3300 is relevant to the issue before us. Under the majority opinion, a good faith settlement under section 877.6 would bar recovery for breach of contract. This result would conflict with Civil Code section 3300's provision that the injured party is entitled to all damages proximately caused by the breach. A brief example illustrates the point: A bolt maker contracts with an aircraft manufacturer to supply bolts. This contract expressly requires that the bolts be of a certain specification. The manufacturer, in turn, contracts with an airline company to deliver an aircraft that meets certain specifications contained in their contract. The bolt maker breaches its contract by supplying nonconforming bolts. The manufacturer incorporates them into an aircraft. As a result, the plane crashes. The victims sue the airline, the manufacturer, and the bolt maker. If the bolt maker enters into a good faith settlement with the victims under section 877.6, the majority opinion will preclude the manufacturer from recovering for the bolt maker's breach of contract. This result conflicts with Civil Code section 3300. If the manufacturer can show that its damages were proximately caused by the component maker's breach of their contract, section 3300 should allow the manufacturer to recover all those damages. The majority opinion also conflicts with California Uniform Commercial Code sections 2714 and 2715, which allow a buyer of goods to recover incidental and consequential damages for a seller's breach of contract. Under the majority's expansive holding, these sections, like Civil Code section 3300, would have no effect if the breaching seller entered into a good faith settlement with an injured third party under section 877.6. Nothing in section 877.6 suggests the Legislature intended to abrogate Civil Code section 3300 or California Uniform Commercial Code sections 2714 and 2715. All presumptions are against a repeal by implication. ( Western Oil & Gas Assn. v. Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control Dist. (1989) 49 Cal.3d 408, 419 [261 Cal. Rptr. 384, 777 P.2d 157].) Moreover, Civil Code section 3300 states that it governs except where otherwise expressly provided by this code (italics added), i.e., the Civil Code. Section 877.6 is in the Code of Civil Procedure. [7] The majority creates an unnecessary conflict between section 877.6 and other statutes. I see no reason to do so.