Court Opinion

ID: 8914296
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-27 04:21:03.55207+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:08:50.005237
License: Public Domain

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge,
concurring specially:
The case involves specific pricing practices, not an allegation of unfair dealing generally. Our opinion should not be interpreted to permit juries to import price protection or a similarly specific contract term from a concept of good faith that is not based on well-established custom and usage or other objective standards of which the parties had clear notice. Here, evidence of custom and usage regarding price protection in the asphaltic paving trade was not contradicted in major respects, and the jury could find that the parties knew or should have known of the practice at the time of making the contract. In my view, these are necessary predicates for either theory of the case, namely, interpretation of the contract based on the course of its performance or a finding that good faith required the seller to hold the price. With these observations, I concur.