Roy v. Stephen Pontiac-Cadillac, Inc.

543 A.2d 775, 15 Conn. App. 101, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1507, 1988 Conn. App. LEXIS 250
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedJuly 5, 1988
Docket6036
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 543 A.2d 775 (Roy v. Stephen Pontiac-Cadillac, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roy v. Stephen Pontiac-Cadillac, Inc., 543 A.2d 775, 15 Conn. App. 101, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1507, 1988 Conn. App. LEXIS 250 (Colo. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

Borden, J.

The plaintiff appeals from a judgment for the defendant in this suit arising out of the nondelivery of a truck. The plaintiff alleged a breach of contract and a violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42-110a through 42-110q. The dispositive issue is whether the trial court erred in concluding that the defendant’s peformance under the contract between the parties was excused by virtue of the doctrine of impossibility of performance. We find error in part.

The court found the following facts. On November 7, 1985, the plaintiff agreed to purchase a new motor vehicle from the defendant, a motor vehicle dealership. The vehicle was described in the contract as a three-quarter ton GMC truck with a 350 V-8 engine, standard four-speed transmission, AM radio, painted step-bumper, power steering and a C-Bar. The vehicle was not in stock and had to be ordered from the manufacturer.

On December 5,1985, the manufacturer notified the defendant that the vehicle as ordered was not available because a three-quarter ton truck with a 350 V-8 engine required a heavy duty package, which included [103]*103heavy duty power brakes, extra capacity rear springs, a heavy duty stabilizing bar, and heavy duty front and rear shocks. The addition of a heavy duty package to the vehicle order would have increased the cost charged by the manufacturer.

The defendant notified the plaintiff of this problem and offered the plaintiff three options: (1) to order the heavy duty package at a reduced price; (2) to take the vehicle as ordered but with a smaller engine which did not require any heavy duty equipment; or (3) to receive a full return of his deposit money, with neither party having any further obligation.

The plaintiff rejected these options and notified the defendant that he considered the defendant to have repudiated the contract. Thereupon, the defendant returned the plaintiffs deposit. The court found that the defendant acted in good faith at all times with respect to the dealings between the parties.

The following month, the plaintiff purchased a three-quarter ton Chevrolet truck with a 350 V-8 engine from a different dealership. That truck was equipped with the heavy duty package, and with two additional items not included in the contract with the defendant. The plaintiff paid more for that truck than he had agreed to pay the defendant for the GMC truck. The court concluded that the defendant’s performance was excused under the doctrine of impossibility of performance because the only performance which was possible by the defendant would have been essentially different from the performance promised. Under the circumstances of this case, however, this conclusion was erroneous.

I

“A modern statement of the impossibility doctrine appears in a leading case. ... ‘It is now recognized that “[a] thing is impossible in legal contemplation when it is not practicable; and a thing is impracticable when [104]*104it can only be done at an excessive and unreasonable cost.” [Citations omitted.] The doctrine ultimately represents the ever-shifting line, drawn by courts hopefully responsive to commercial practices and mores, at which the community’s interest in having contracts enforced according to their terms is outweighed by the commercial senselessness of requiring performance. When the issue is raised, the court is asked to construct a condition of performance based on changed circumstances, a process which involves at least three reasonably definable steps. First, a contingency—something unexpected-must have occurred. Second, the risk of the unexpected occurrence must not have been allocated either by agreement or by custom. Finally, occurrence of the contingency must have rendered performance commercially impracticable.’ ” J. Calamari & J. Perillo, Contracts (3d Ed.) § 13-1, p. 537, quoting Transatlantic Financing Corporation v. United States, 363 F.2d 312, 315 (D.C. Cir. 1966); see also Hess v. Dumouchel Paper Co., 154 Conn. 343, 349-52, 225 A.2d 797 (1966).

The transaction in this case involved the sale of goods. It is therefore controlled by our statutory codification of the provisions of article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). See General Statutes §§ 42a-2-101 through 42a-2-725. General Statutes § 42a-2-615 codifies § 2-615 of the UCC and provides in relevant part: “Except so far as a seller may have assumed a greater obligation... nondelivery in whole or in part by a seller ... is not a breach of his duty under a contract for sale if performance as agreed has been made impracticable by the occurrence of a contingency the nonoccurrence of which was a basic assumption on which the contract was made . . . .” This provision has yet to be applied in any published decision by a court of this state. We therefore look to the interpretation given § 2-615 of the UCC in other jurisdictions and to authoritative commentary on it.

[105]*105Section 2-615 of the UCC codifies the modern approach to the common law doctrine which is variously termed “impossibility,” “impracticability,” or “frustration of purpose.” See 2 Restatement (Second), Contracts § 261; see also Hess v. Dumouchel Paper Co., supra, 349-52. The theory underlying the approach taken by the UCC and followed by the restatement is that “the obligor is relieved of his duty because the contract, having been made on a different ‘basic assumption,’ is regarded as not covering the case that has arisen. It is an omitted case, falling within a ‘gap’ in the contract.” 2 Restatement (Second), Contracts, Introductory Note to Chapter 11, p. 311.

“Three elements must be proven before excuse becomes available under § 2-615: (1) the seller must not have assumed the risk of some unknown contingency; (2) the nonoccurrence of the contingency must have been a basic assumption underlying the contract; and (3) the occurrence of that contingency must have made performance commercially impracticable.” Iowa Electric Light & Power Co. v. Atlas Corporation, 467 F. Sup. 129, 134 (N.D. Iowa 1978), rev’d on other grounds, 603 F.2d 1301 (8th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 911, 100 S. Ct. 1090, 63 L. Ed. 2d 327 (1980). Whether the nonoccurrence of a contingency was such a basic assumption involves a judgment as to which party assumed the risk of its occurrence, a determination to be made in light of all the circumstances, including the terms of the contract. 2 Restatement (Second), Contracts, Introductory Note to Chapter 11, p. 311.

The cases and commentary suggest that “[t]he applicability of the defense of commercial impracticability [under § 2-615] turns largely on foreseeability. The relevant inquiry is whether the risk of the occurrence of the contingency was so unusual or unforeseen and the consequences of the occurrence of the contingency so severe that to require performance is to grant [106]*106the buyer an advantage he did not bargain for in the contract. If the risk of the occurrence of the contingency was unforeseeable, the seller cannot be said to have assumed that risk. If the risk of the occurrence of the contingency was foreseeable, that risk is tacitly assigned to the seller.

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Bluebook (online)
543 A.2d 775, 15 Conn. App. 101, 7 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1507, 1988 Conn. App. LEXIS 250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roy-v-stephen-pontiac-cadillac-inc-connappct-1988.