Mont Trucking, Inc. v. Entrada Industries, Inc.

802 P.2d 779, 149 Utah Adv. Rep. 57, 1990 Utah App. LEXIS 188, 1990 WL 202779
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedDecember 7, 1990
Docket890386-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 802 P.2d 779 (Mont Trucking, Inc. v. Entrada Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mont Trucking, Inc. v. Entrada Industries, Inc., 802 P.2d 779, 149 Utah Adv. Rep. 57, 1990 Utah App. LEXIS 188, 1990 WL 202779 (Utah Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

GREENWOOD, Judge:

Defendants Entrada Industries, Inc., Interstate Brick Division, and Interstate Brick Company (referred to collectively as “Entrada”) appeal from a non-jury trial court judgment entered in favor of plaintiff Mont Trucking, Inc. (Mont).

In this action for breach of contract, Entrada claims its defenses of waiver and estoppel preclude judgment for Mont. En-trada also contends the court erred in assessing interest under Utah Code Ann. § 15-1-1 (Supp.1990). Mont claims this is a frivolous appeal. We affirm.

*781 FACTS

Mont, an independent contractor, transported brick for Entrada from 1959 to 1986. In 1977 the parties, for the first time, executed a written contract, which was replaced by a second written contract dated March 12, 1982.

The 1982 contract provided:

[Mont] agrees to operate as a contract motor carrier of property to transport for the account of [Entrada] the commodities described in Exhibit “A”, and pursuant thereto to furnish all work, equipment, labor and all other materials and services at its expense necessary to accomplish the work in a skillful and workmanlike manner.

Exhibit “A” to the contract specified the freightage rate to be paid Mont. The contract further provided, “This memorandum contains the entire Agreement between the parties relative to the subject matter hereof, and can be amended or modified only in writing, signed by duly authorized officers of Shipper and Carrier.”

Nevertheless, from March 14, 1982 until May of 1984, Entrada deducted five percent from the contractual amount owed Mont, ostensibly for administrative services provided by Entrada. These services had been provided in the past as part of the overall arrangement between the parties at no cost to Mont. The trial court found that the contract did not change this practice. Mont’s president, Mont Cox, complained orally of the deductions to Dennis Webber, Entrada’s traffic manager and dispatcher. Webber was responsible for all inbound and outbound freight. Additionally, Web-ber had reviewed the 1982 contract with Mont Cox when Cox signed it. Webber testified that from his discussions .with Cox, he knew Cox was “concerned” and “upset” about the deductions. Entrada also reduced the freight rate paid to Mont beginning in March of 1983 and continued this practice for over one year. Neither rate reduction was pursuant to written agreement, as required by the contract, nor does the record show the parties otherwise agreed to the reduction.

As a result of Entrada’s five percent administrative deduction, Mont received $35,066.61 less than the agreed fee during the period this unilateral deviation from the terms of the contract was in effect. The unilateral freight rate reduction produced $14,430.44 less revenue for Mont than the contract amount. The trial court awarded judgment to Mont in the sum of these figures, $49,497.05, plus legal interest from the date the damages were incurred.

WAIVER

Entrada claims that Mont waived his right to bring this action by its acquiescence at the time of the breach. Waiver is “the intentional relinquishment of a known right.” Barnes v. Wood, 750 P.2d 1226, 1230 (Utah Ct.App.1988). In order for waiver to occur, “there must be an existing right, benefit or advantage, a knowledge of its existence, and an intention to relinquish it.” Id. “The party’s actions or conduct must evince unequivocally an intent to waive, or must be inconsistent with any other intent.” Id. “Whether a right has been waived is generally a question of fact and therefore we accord considerable deference to the finder of fact’s determination.” Id. Findings of fact will be affirmed unless clearly erroneous, that is, unless they are against the clear weight of the evidence or we are definitely and firmly convinced the trial court made a mistake. Utah R.Civ.P. 52(a); Western Kane County Special Serv. Dist. No. 1 v. Jackson Cattle Co., 744 P.2d 1376, 1377 (Utah 1987).

The contract in this case is not ambiguous and clearly defines the fees to be paid. There was no claim that Mont was unaware of its rights under the contract. Therefore, the disposition of this issue rests in the third element, intention to relinquish.

In the case at hand, Mont complained orally to Webber, Entrada’s traffic manager and dispatcher. Because of Webber’s position and responsibilities in Entrada, En-trada had notice of Mont’s dissatisfaction. There is no evidence of overt acquiescence by Mont. Although Mont waited . some time before bringing a suit to enforce its *782 rights, the conversations between Mont Cox and Webber make it clear that, as evidenced by its actions, Mont did not unequivocally evince an intent to waive. There was no clear error in the trial court’s finding that Mont did not waive his right to enforcement of the contract. Therefore, we affirm the finding.

ESTOPPEL

Entrada further claims that Mont should be estopped from bringing this action because of Entrada’s detrimental reliance on Mont’s “acquiescence.” Estoppel is “ ‘conduct by one party which leads another party, in reliance thereon, to adopt a course of action resulting in detriment or damage if the first party is permitted to repudiate his conduct.’ ” Blackhurst v. Transamerica, 699 P.2d 688, 691 (Utah 1985) (quoting United American Life Ins. Co. v. Zions First National Bank, 641 P.2d 158, 161 (Utah 1982)). “To find estoppel, three elements must be present: (1) a representation, act, or omission, (2) justifiable reliance, and (3) a change of position to one’s detriment based on that reliance.” Rothey v. Walker Bank & Trust Co., 754 P.2d 1222, 1224 (Utah 1988). “[I]t should be noted that estoppel presents a question of fact.” Terry v. Price Mun. Corp., 784 P.2d 146, 148 (Utah 1989).

Payment of an amount contractually agreed to cannot constitute a detriment to support an estoppel claim. Barnes v. Wood, 750 P.2d 1226 (Utah Ct.App.1988). This proposition controls the present case. Entrada suffered no detriment from the enforcement of a contract voluntarily entered into, and its estoppel claim must fail on that basis. 1 Further, because of Mont Cox’s complaints to Webber, Entrada also fails to meet the requirement of justifiable reliance.

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Bluebook (online)
802 P.2d 779, 149 Utah Adv. Rep. 57, 1990 Utah App. LEXIS 188, 1990 WL 202779, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mont-trucking-inc-v-entrada-industries-inc-utahctapp-1990.