Court Opinion

ID: 9728279
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:03:49.83148+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:47.383331
License: Public Domain

WOLLMAN, Chief Justice
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
The terms of the principal contract between the State and Sweetman bar Western from recovering for the additional freight charges. Likewise, nothing in the subcontract between Sweetman and Western gives Western any claim against the State for those charges.
*463The subcontract was entered into on March 13, 1972. It consisted of a one-page printed form, to which some eight typed provisions were added, together with a detailed listing of the materials that were to be furnished in place by Western and the amounts to be paid therefor. Notwithstanding the fact that the subcontract very carefully spells out the provisions that the parties found necessary to add to the printed form, we are told that some two months earlier the president of Sweetman and the president of Western reached an “additional understanding” that concerned “the possibility of freight rate increases.” It strains credulity to believe that two experienced contractors would enter into a detailed written subcontract some two months later on the strength of this alleged oral agreement and yet not see fit to make even a passing reference to increased freight rates in the written contract. Significantly, although the president of Western testified in great detail concerning the problems Western had in securing an adequate supply of oil during the construction of the project, he was not asked nor did he testify concerning this alleged precontract oral understanding. Given the circumstances, I would hold that the subcontract is not ambiguous concerning an essential term of the contractual undertaking.
Although I would hold that there is no obligation on the part of the State to pay additional amounts for the increased freight rates, I agree with the majority opinion regarding the obligation of the State to pay interest on any amounts that are found due and owing in contracts of this nature.