Opinion ID: 771387
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Breach of the Implied Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing

Text: 65 Ruiz and Fasteel's third non-patent claim charges Chance with breaching the Distributorship Agreement's implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. This duty was breached, Ruiz and Fasteel allege, because: 1) Chance's anti-Hispanic bias resulted in Fasteel's termination; 2) Chance offered no reason for terminating Fasteel; and 3) after the termination, Chance dealt directly with Fasteel's dealers. 66 Missouri law implies a duty of good faith and fair dealing in every contract. See, e.g.,Farmers Elec. Coop., Inc. v. Mo. Dep't of Corrections, 977 S.W.2d 266, 271 (Mo. 1998) (en banc). To prevail on a breach of duty claim, the party must present substantial evidence that the other party acted in bad faith or engaged in unfair dealing. Acetylene Gas Co. v. Oliver, 939 S.W.2d 404, 410 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996). The district court properly found that Ruiz and Fasteel failed to present substantial evidence that Chance breached the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. Ruiz and Fasteel presented no credible evidence that Chance's termination was motivated by racial animus or that Chance failed to proffer a reason for terminating Fasteel. Further, Paragraph 12 of the Distributorship Agreement expressly provides that Chance is permitted to sell, lease or transfer its products to other purchasers wheresoever the latter may be located. Thus, the lack of existence of a genuine material fact supports the district court's grant of summary judgment.