Opinion ID: 1194280
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cohen's intent to be bound by the 1971 and 1974 contracts.

Text: The trial court instructed the jury that petitioners had the burden of proof as to Mr. Cohen's intent to be bound by the 1971 and 1974 contracts. Since Cohen admitted that he read and signed those documents, the trial court's instruction was tantamount to requiring the petitioners to prove Mr. Cohen's subjective intent to be bound. This is directly contrary to our policy of looking to the objective manifestation of intent as expressed in the writing. See Barclay v. Spokane, 83 Wn.2d 698, 521 P.2d 937 (1974); Jacoby v. Grays Harbor Chair & Mfg. Co., 77 Wn.2d 911, 918, 468 P.2d 666 (1970). [2] The proponent of a contract need only prove the existence of the contract and the other party's objective manifestation of intent to be bound thereby; the unexpressed subjective intent of either party is irrelevant. Barclay, at 700; Jacoby, at 918. In the present case, the petitioners produced the 1971 and 1974 contracts along with the objective manifestation of Cohen's intent to be bound: his signatures. Mr. Cohen's subjective intent not to be bound was irrelevant. Therefore, the trial court's instruction was erroneous. At that point, the burden shifts to the party seeking to avoid the contract to prove a defense to the contract's enforcement. [3] Mr. Cohen's testimony and notation on the 1974 contract indicate that his primary contention is that duress or coercion invalidated his assent to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. A party to a contract which he has voluntarily signed cannot, in the absence of fraud, deceit, or coercion be heard to repudiate his own signature. National Bank of Wash. v. Equity Investors, 81 Wn.2d 886, 912, 506 P.2d 20 (1973). Duress or business compulsion is a defense which must be proven by the victim who seeks to escape liability. See Barker v. Walter Hogan Enterprises, Inc., 23 Wn. App. 450, 596 P.2d 1359 (1979). To establish duress or coercion, there must be proof of more than reluctance to accept or financial embarrassment. The assertion of duress must be proven by evidence that the duress resulted from the other's wrongful or oppressive conduct. The mere fact that a contract is entered into under stress or pecuniary necessity is insufficient. Culinary Workers Local 596 Trust v. Gateway Cafe, Inc., 91 Wn.2d 353, 363, 588 P.2d 1334 (1979); Puget Sound Power & Light Co. v. Shulman, 84 Wn.2d 433, 442-43, 526 P.2d 1210 (1974). See also W.R. Grimshaw Co. v. Nevil C. Withrow Co., 248 F.2d 896, 904 (8th Cir.1957); 13 S. Williston, Contracts § 1606 (3d ed. 1970). Generally, circumstances must demonstrate a person was deprived of his free will at the time he entered into the challenged agreement in order to sustain a claim of duress. Whitman Realty & Inv. Co. v. Day, 161 Wash. 72, 77, 296 P. 171 (1931). It appears that Mr. Cohen's notation of a possible coercion defense on the 1974 contract was little more than a feeble protestation of an unfair labor practice. Apparently, Mr. Cohen believed the union was presenting him with a take it or leave it collective bargaining agreement and thus was failing to bargain in good faith. See National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b)(3). To our knowledge, there was no attempt to file a formal complaint of an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board. Mr. Cohen's notation on the 1974 contract and belief of a possible failure to bargain in good faith, however, do not prove the defense of coercion or business compulsion, and certainly cannot justify the trial court's erroneous instruction. Since petitioners produced the 1971 and 1974 contracts and demonstrated Mr. Cohen's objective intent to be bound by the contracts, the burden shifted to the respondents to prove a defense to those contracts. We find insufficient evidence to establish the claimed coercion or business compulsion defense. Therefore, it appears to us that a valid contract was formed for each of the contract periods 1971-74 and 1974-77.