Court Opinion

ID: 9747318
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:10:25.994461+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:22.780947
License: Public Domain

TAMILIA, Judge,
dissenting:
I strongly dissent. In the first instance, the majority does not and cannot cite any Pennsylvania authority adopting the rule cited in § 374 of the Second Restatement of Contracts. Although the ostensible basis for remand is the trial court’s reliance on outmoded law, the majority relies on law so new as to be virtually unknown in this jurisdiction. The law in Pennsylvania has been and continues to be that where a binding contract exists, and there is no allegation that the contract itself is void or voidable, a breaching party is not entitled to recovery. Luria v. Robinson, 223 Pa.Super. 456, 302 A.2d 361 (1978). While our Supreme Court may yet abrogate the forfeiture principle in this Commonwealth, it has not yet seen fit to do so, and we may not usurp its prerogatives, particularly when the result would be unjust.
Secondly, the Uniform Commercial Code § 2718, cited by the majority in (partial) support, is applicable only to the sale of goods, and, while it and some of the equally inapplicable cases referred to by the majority may be part of a trend, the mainstream of contract law in Pennsylvania has *12not yet been diverted by it. Indeed the identification of the jurisdictions cited as the vanguard of change is for the most part questionable, as of those states relied upon to confer legitimacy on the majority’s somewhat arbitrary conclusion, only one may be termed authoritative.
Lastly, and given the current state of the law, the most important determinant of the proper result in this case is the trial judge’s assessment of the witness’ credibility, here resolved in appellee’s favor. The majority, far from according these findings their due, ignores them, contrary to law and our mandate. Knepp v. Nationwide Insurance Co., 324 Pa.Super. 479, 471 A.2d 1257 (1984).
The trial court correctly points out that the understanding of the parties is clearly evidenced by the agreements they signed. In breaching those agreements, appellant has engaged in what might charitably be termed sharp practice. The facts reasonably support the inference that appellant learned the hoagie business, benefited from the acquired trade and good will at appellees’ place of business, then conducted the hoagie business at its previously owned pizza shop in the following season. Restitution in this instance constitutes a wholly unmerited reward for bad faith. We do not feel that such a result is consistent with the intent of law or the expectations of equity.