Puritan Manufacturing, Inc. v. Klayman & Company

379 F. Supp. 1306, 15 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1055, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7901
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 26, 1974
DocketCiv. A. 68-564
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 379 F. Supp. 1306 (Puritan Manufacturing, Inc. v. Klayman & Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Puritan Manufacturing, Inc. v. Klayman & Company, 379 F. Supp. 1306, 15 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1055, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7901 (E.D. Pa. 1974).

Opinion

ADJUDICATION

DITTER, District Judge.

Plaintiff instituted this action to recover the balance due on a contract of sale for machinery. Defendant filed a counterclaim for losses allegedly sustained as a result of plaintiff’s breach of warranties, both express and implied. After trial without a jury, I make the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff, Puritan Manufacturing, Inc., a corporation with its principal place of business in Omaha, Nebraska, is engaged in the business of manufacturing refrigeration equipment for the meat packing industry.

2. Defendant, I. Klayman & Company (hereafter Klayman), a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal place of business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is in the pork packing business.

3. In 1964, Klayman was in the process of making plans for the construction of a new, $3,000,000. facility.

4. Herman Klayman, defendant’s .manager, learned of a new process for chilling the internal organs and edible portions of the animal’s head (hereafter collectively referred to as “offal”) by running it through a conveyor and exposing the product to liquid carbon dioxide (CO2).

5. In late 1964 Klayman entered into negotiations with Puritan for the purchase of a variety of machinery including a continuous liver chiller and a continuous head-meat chiller incorporating the process described in finding number 4.

6. Karl Oberdorfer, with whom Klayman negotiated for the purchase of said machinery, was an agent of Puritan, in addition to being employed as a consultant by AIRCO Industrial Gases, a liquid C02 supplier.

7. On March 15, 1966, W. F. Walter, president of Puritan, submitted a list of equipment and prices for Klayman’s consideration.

8. On April 4, 1966, Klayman submitted a purchase order to Puritan, which the latter accepted on May 3, 1966. The equipment actually purchased included a continuous liver chiller, a continuous head-meat chiller, a heart washer, a heart slicer, a lung chiller, a lung slicer, and a stomach deslimer.

9. The agreed upon purchase price was $33,216.00, of which Klayman paid $21,702.90, leaving a balance of $11,513.-10.

10. The equipment ordered by Klayman from Puritan was delivered in November, 1966, and installed in February, 1967.

11. In June, 1970, Klayman dismantled the Puritan liver and head-meat chillers and placed them in storage.

12. The agreed upon purchase price for the liver chiller was $10,275.00 and for the head-meat chiller was $6,900.00, totaling $17,175.00.

13. In addition to an implied warranty of merchantability and an implied warranty of fitness for a particular pur *1309 pose, Puritan expressly represented and warranted that its chilling equipment would be able to chill the offal product of 650 hogs per hour to a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit, except for livers, which would be cooled to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

14. Puritan further represented and warranted that its chillers would eliminate “double handling” of the offal product, which is necessary when traditional chilling methods are used.

15. Puritan knew the chillers were purchased so Klayman could continue to sell the livers and other offal products as fresh, rather than frozen.

16. As Klayman’s production rose toward a kill rate of 650 hogs per hour, Puritan’s equipment was unable to chill the offal to the guaranteed temperatures and at the same time produce, without double handling, livers that could be sold as fresh.

17. Klayman was not only forced to double handle livers but in view of customer complaints lost its market for fresh livers.

18. During the first eight months of operation, the Puritan equipment required constant maintenance, readjustment and replacement.

19. During the first eight months Klayman gave frequent and adequate notice to Puritan that its equipment was not working properly. Besides numerous phone calls, Klayman sent Puritan letters on June 19 and 27, 1967, specifically stating that the seller’s machinery was not performing in accordance with its warranties.

20. Puritan and its local representative, AIRCO, made numerous adjustments to remedy various problems and malfunctions in an attempt to enable the chillers to operate properly.

21. In July, 1967, under the supervision of Karl Oberdorfer, modifications were made on the continuous liver chiller, including the installation of an additional C02 fixture to make “snow” which would be placed on the livers after they dropped into stainless steel tanks. This did not adequately cure the temperature problem as Klayman’s production rose.

22. Beginning in October 1967, Klayman had to purchase stainless steel trucks and meat-hanging equipment in order to handle and chill the products not being sufficiently cooled by the Puritan equipment.

23. Klayman spent $10,063.00 for stainless steel trucks and meat-hanging equipment.

24. At a meeting on October 11, 1967, Puritan demanded that Klayman pay the balance due on the purchase price. Speaking for Klayman, Herman Klayman stated he was willing to pay provided Puritan reduced its warranties to writing and agreed to rebuild and replace the equipment at its own expense to conform to the warranties if it became necessary to do so. Puritan refused.

25. During the negotiations for the purchase of the Puritan equipment, Klayman was advised that approximately one pound of liquid C02 would chill two and one-half pounds of offal to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

26. In August 1967, Klayman notified Puritan that the C02 usage was excessive. This was another subject discussed at the meeting on October 11, 1967.

27. In May 1968, Klayman began to purchase bulk dry ice (later pellets) and add it to the offal product to assist in cooling it to the desired temperature.

28. In June 1970, Klayman was processing over 500 hogs per hour. Klayman decided to discontinue using the offal coolers and purchasing liquid C02. This decision was based on the inability of the Puritan equipment to operate in accordance with its warranties and cool properly the amount of offal product Klayman was producing.

29. Klayman did not establish that its use of C02 was excessive.

*1310 DISCUSSION

Since this is a diversity case, the law of Pennsylvania controls, 1 specifically the Uniform Commercial Code, 12A P.S. § 1-101 et seq.

The evidence shows that there was a valid contract for the sale of goods between Puritan, the seller, and Klayman, the buyer, for $33,216.00, of which $11,513.10 remains unpaid.

In March, 1967, Klayman accepted 2 Puritan’s equipment and has not at any time notified Puritan that this machinery was rejected. Acceptance by a buyer makes it fully liable for the contract price. 3

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379 F. Supp. 1306, 15 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 1055, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7901, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/puritan-manufacturing-inc-v-klayman-company-paed-1974.