Mullen Construction Co. v. Granby Telephone & Telegraph Co.

194 F. Supp. 200, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3245
District Court, D. Massachusetts·Decided May 25, 1961·No. Civ. A. Nos. 57-357, 58-595·Published

Opinion

CAFFREY, District Judge.

These are two actions of contract which were consolidated for purposes of trial. In each case the defendant is [201]*201the Granby Telephone & Telegraph Company (Granby). Both cases arise out of the change-over of the Granby, Massachusetts, telephone system from a hand-crank magneto type to an automatic dial type. The plaintiff in one case is the engineering firm which designed the change-over and the plaintiff in the other case is the contractor who performed the construction work made necessary by the change-over.

In Civil Action 57-357, Mullen Construction Co., Inc. (Mullen), a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Wisconsin, with its principal place of business located in Appleton, Wisconsin, seeks to recover from the defendant Granby, a Massachusetts corporation with its principal place of business located in Granby, Massachusetts, the sum of $20,756.94, plus interest, upon the basis of a written contract entered into on April 2, 1956 and subsequent amendments thereto, said contract being identified as Granby Construction Contract, No. 3-X.

In Civil Action 58-595, Design Service Company, Inc. (Deseo), a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York, with its principal place of business located in New York City, seeks to recover from the defendant Granby the sum of $22,017.90, plus interest, upon the basis of a written contract between the parties dated September 10, 1954, identified as Engineering Service Contract No. 1 — E, REA Form 517, 7-53. This contract required Deseo to provide certain engineering services, consisting of the design and supervision of a proposed plan for the change-over of the Town of Granby telephone system from magneto type to automatic dial type.

In its complaint Deseo alleges, in substance, full performance by it of its various obligations under the contract. It also alleges that under the formula set out in Article 6 of the contract for determination of compensation to be paid to Deseo by Granby, Deseo is entitled to $15,623.77 and that Granby has paid only $5,544.10 on account of this sum. Deseo claims a balance due on the contract proper of $10,079.69 and Deseo also claims the sum of $11,588.28 for “extra” services alleged to have been supplied by it at the request, either express or implied, of Granby.

There was evidence at the trial and I find that Deseo performed the requirements of its contract with Granby. It will serve no useful purpose to spell out at length the precise requirements of the engineering contract. Suffice it to say that the witness Geiss testified that plaintiff Deseo did perform the various obligations imposed on it by those articles of the contract which called for action or performance by Deseo.

At the trial Granby contended that Deseo was not entitled to the compensation it claimed for performance of its contractual requirements, chiefly for the asserted reason that Deseo in the execution of the area coverage design did not properly anticipate the extent of the growth of the population of the Town of Granby, as. a consequence of which, Granby contends, the system as designed is inadequate to handle the needs of the town during the ten year period referred to in the contract. I find that the area coverage design was adequate, and I further find that this portion of Desco’s performance was done by it in reliance on and upon the basis of information contained in an Area Coverage Survey supplied to Deseo by Granby, so that if it could be found that the area coverage design was inadequate, this inadequacy stems from information supplied to Deseo by Granby. I further find that to the extent there was any unanticipated growth in the population of the Town of Granby, it was due to an influx of Air Force personnel caused by the transfer of a new unit of the Strategic Air Command, United States Air Force, to nearby Westover Field. This influx occurred after “cut-over” of the new system in August 1956. No evidence was offered to indicate that Deseo could or should have anticipated an addition of this type to the population of Granby. While not basing the finding of adequacy of design on this point, I [202]*202find it not without significance that at the trial Granby produced Professor Turner, an expert in the field of telephone engineering with a substantial background in the field of communications, and failed to elicit any opinion whatever from Professor Turner with regard to the claimed inadequacy of the area coverage design.

With regard to Desco’s claim for “extras,” I find that the chief executive officer of Granby badgered both plaintiffs with an incessant stream of complaints regarding almost every phase and aspect of both the design contract and its performance and the construction contract and its performance. I find that because of these complaints, additional inspections were made necessary and I find that $6,761.78 out of the amounts set out in plaintiff’s Exhibit 5 are fair and reasonable charges for the inspections made, and that these inspections were made at the request, either express or implied, of the defendant Granby.

I find for the plaintiff Deseo in the amount of $10,079.67 on the contract and in the amount of $6,761.78 for extra services, or a total finding of $16,841.45, plus interest and costs.

With regard to Granby’s counterclaim against the plaintiff Deseo, which is premised on an allegation that plaintiff has failed to properly perform all that was required of it under the provisions of the contract, the counterclaim is denied. On the basis of the foregoing I find that plaintiff has properly performed its contractual obligations and I find for the plaintiff Deseo on Granby’s counterclaim.

With regard to the claim of the plaintiff Mullen, a preliminary issue to be disposed of is whether or not Amendment No. 1 became part of the original contract as an amendment thereto. I find and rule that it did. It was accepted in writing by the President of both Mullen and Granby. In its complaint Mullen seeks to recover $15,155.23, the balance due for work allegedly performed by it under its contract. Mullen arrived at this figure by taking the original contract price of $200,321.56 and crediting Granby for $179,565.52 admittedly paid, plus an additional credit of $5,590.81 claimed by defendant in paragraph one of its counterclaim against Mullen, which is conceded by Mullen to be due Granby in payment of cable purchased from Granby by Mullen.

In its complaint plaintiff Mullen alleges full performance by it of its contractual obligations. The defendant Granby, on the other hand, denies that plaintiff fully performed its contract and has filed an amended counterclaim based on several different legal theories in which Granby seeks to recover from Mullen a total of $78,368.67.

I find that plaintiff Mullen entered upon a performance of its obligations under this contract in April of 1956, and that it substantially performed in accordance with its contractual undertaking. I find that because of this substantial performance, the town telephone system was “cut over” from a magneto system to an automatic dial system on August 16, 1956, and I find that as of that date at least 90 per cent of the installations were in proper working order and that 100 per cent were in operation approximately a week later. I find that plaintiff’s performance of this contract was completed as of that date, and I further find that control of the system was turned over by Mullen to Granby, with the written approval of Granby’s President, on September 17, 1956, as evidenced by plaintiff’s Exhibit 3.

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Mullen Construction Co. v. Granby Telephone & Telegraph Co., 194 F. Supp. 200, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3245 (D. Mass. 1961).

194 F. Supp. 200 (Mullen Construction Co. v. Granby Telephone & Telegraph Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.