Court Opinion

ID: 9539430
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:04:21.051075+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:58:49.365988
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The jury in this case resolved the issues regarding the terms of the oral contract in favor of the plaintiff, who was the provider of equipment and was to also provide installation. The jury also resolved the issue of abandonment of the contract in favor of plaintiff. By its verdict, it said yes, the restaurant did agree to have plaintiff do the job and then reneged without notice after he had had the equipment delivered and after he started installing it.
The evidence is also that the restaurant did not have the courtesy to give the provider a chance to finish the work, and earn the money promised, over the weekend if that was needed. Nor did it have the courtesy to call the provider to prevent him from scheduling the work for Monday and actually going out there to do it. So the plaintiff lost time and money by the restaurant’s breach of the contract, and the jury could have found this to be deliberate.
Actually it is difficult to comprehend that it was not deliberate. *207Plaintiff had had the equipment delivered and had started the installation when the weekend intervened. The jury was authorized to find that the restaurant did or should have expected plaintiff to come back and finish the installation. The evidence authorized it to find that the restaurant’s breach was not in good faith and was instead in bad faith. Not quite cricket, so to speak. And that is precisely what it found, by its special verdict.
The jury, representing the conscience of the community, made a judgment that this kind of behavior ought not to be countenanced in the marketplace of their community. The wrongdoer should not be rewarded for it by being protected from having to pay the contractor’s attorney fees when the latter seeks to right the wrong.
The jury had the opportunity to observe the witnesses and size up the situation. It was properly instructed on bad faith. Much involved in such a consideration is standards of behavior. We ought to give great deference to the jury’s judgment in such regard.
There is evidence that the restaurant acted in bad faith in its dealings with the material and labor provider, with respect to the making and carrying out of this contract, if the provider is believed. The jury believed him. Its verdict should be upheld because it cannot be said to have erred as a matter of law.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Deen joins in this dissent.