Fabian v. Wasatch Orchard Co.

125 P. 860, 41 Utah 404, 1912 Utah LEXIS 72
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 31, 1912
DocketNo. 2372
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 125 P. 860 (Fabian v. Wasatch Orchard Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fabian v. Wasatch Orchard Co., 125 P. 860, 41 Utah 404, 1912 Utah LEXIS 72 (Utah 1912).

Opinion

STRAUP, J.

The complaint is in two counts. One that the plaintiff,, a merchandise broker, rendered services for the defendant, a Utah corporation engaged in canning and selling fruits and vegetables, in advertising, introducing, and selling its prod-, ucts in Eastern markets', in consideration of which it, by a written agreement, agreed to give the plaintiff the ecsclu-sive right for three years to sell, as a broker, all its manufactured products in the State of Utah and in southern Idaho, for which the plaintiff was to have a brokerage of two and [405]*405one-half per cent, of the amount of all sales made by bim o«r ■by others in such territory during such time. In the second count, it is alleged that the plaintiff, at the instance and request of defendant, rendered services for it in advertising, introducing, and selling its products in Eastern markets, and there creating a market for its products, which services were reasonably worth the sum of $6000.

The case was tried to the court, without a jury. The court found: That the' defendant had invested a considerable sum of money in growing asparagus for canning purposes, and that the asparagus plants had reached' a stage where they would be producing in considerable quantities. That the defendant was heavily in debt and in straightened financial circumstances. That it had a large quantity of such product on hand, but had no market or outlet for it. That it desired to convert the products into cash, regardless of the profit from the sales thereof, and to create a market therefor in Eastern cities, especially in Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, and to advertise and introduce its products in such markets. That thereupon the plaintiff, a merchant broker at Salt Lake City, at the solicitation and. request of the general manager of the defendant, and for and on its behalf, visited such cities and there advertised the defendant’s products, and devoted time and services in introducing them and1 in creating a market for them, and solicited and obtained orders amounting, at the prices fixed for the products, to- the aggregate sum of between $30,000 and $35,000. That the defendant accepted the benefit of such services, and, to1 the extent of its capacity, filled such orders to the amount of at least $16,000, and that the reasonable value of plaintiff’s services was $2300.

The court further found that, in consideration of the services to be rendered, the defendant’s general manager orally agreed to give plaintiff for three years the exclusive right to sell the defendant’s products in Utah and Southern Idaho1, and' to give him two and onei-half per cent, commission of all sales made in such territory during such time, either by him[406]*406self or otters. The oral contract was made about tbe 18th day of April, 1909. The services rendered by plaintiff, and for which compensation is sought, were rendered by him between that day and the 23d day of May of that year. The ■contract was reduced to writing in December, 1909, and was signed and delivered in the name of the defendant and by the person purporting to act as its general manager, the same person who made the oral contract with the plaintiff. The court found that the person so acting was the defendant’s general manager when the oral contract was made, and that he then had authority to make such a contract, but that when the written contract was made he then was not its general manager, and' was not in its employ, he having theretofore left it, and hence found that the written contract was unauthorized, and was not the defendant’s contract. The defendant, after the rendition of the services, repudiated the contract, notified the plaintiff to that effect, and refused to ratify, confirm, or approve it, or to be bound by it. The court also found that the oral contract, though made by an authorized agent of the defendant, nevertheless was unenforceable, because by its terms it was> not to be performed within one year, and was therefore within the statute of frauds. The court further found that in January, 1910, the defendant discontinued the business of canning fruits and vegetables, and in the spring of that year sold and disposed of its business.

Upon the findings, and in response to the second count of the complaint, the court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the sum' of $2300, the reasonable value of the services rendered by the plaintiff and received and accepted by the defendant. From the judgment, the defendant appeals.

In its brief it states the proposition for consideration to be:

“There is but one question in this case, and that is: Was the defendant enriched1 in any manner by the part performance of the oral contract, which was within the statute of frauds, and what was the value of that enrichment? In other words, what was the value of the benefits received by [407]*407the defendant from the part performance of the oral contract by the plaintiff ?”

Both parties agree that the law on the subject is as stated in Browne on Statutes of Brands (5 Ed.), sec. 118a, that

“the rule that, where one person pays money or performs services for another upon a contract void under the statute of frauds-, he may recover the money upon a count for money paid, or recover for the services upon a quantum, meruit, applies only to cases where the defendant- had received and holds the money paid or the benefit of the services rendered; ”

and, as stated in 29 Am. & E. Ency. Law (2 Ed.), p. 836, that,

“although part performance by one of the parties to a contract within the statute of frauds will not, at law, entitle such party to recover upon the contract itself, he may nevertheless recover for-money paid by him, or property delivered, or services rendered, in accordance with and upon the faith of the contract. The law will raise an implied promise on the part of the other party to pay for what has been done in the way of part performance. But this right to recover is not absolute. The plaintiff is entitled to compensation only under such circumstances as would warrant a. recovery in case there was no express contract; and hence it must appear that the defendant has actually received, or will receive,, some benefit from the acts of part performance. It is immaterial1 that the plaintiff may have suffered a loss, because he is unable, to enforce the contract.”

But -the -defendant asserts that under the facts found by the court the “benefits” received by the defendant cannot be measured by ascertaining and- determining the reasonable value of the services rendered by plaintiff, and accepted and received by the defendant, but by ascertaining and determining whether the services resulted to the defendant’s profit or gain, whether it “was enriched” thereby, and,. if so, “what was the value of -that enrichment ?” Hence it urges that the-court erred in permitting the plaintiff to prove the reasonable value of the services, and in giving the plaintiff a judgment for the sum1 of $2300, the found reasonable value thereof,, and further assails the judgment for the reason, as contended by it, that the products sold by it in the Eastern markets, [408]*408on tbe orders solicited' and procured by the plaintiff were sold for less than cost of manufacturing them, and were therefore sold, not to the defendant’s profit or gain, but to its loss; and hence the defendant received no “benefit” from the services rendered by the plaintiff and accepted and received by it.

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Bluebook (online)
125 P. 860, 41 Utah 404, 1912 Utah LEXIS 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fabian-v-wasatch-orchard-co-utah-1912.