Smyers v. Quartz Works Corp.

880 F. Supp. 1425, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 142, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4404, 1995 WL 147919
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedFebruary 15, 1995
DocketCiv. A. 94-2025-KHV
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 880 F. Supp. 1425 (Smyers v. Quartz Works Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smyers v. Quartz Works Corp., 880 F. Supp. 1425, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 142, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4404, 1995 WL 147919 (D. Kan. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VRATIL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Michael Smyers filed this breach of contract action in the District Court of Johnson County, Kansas, in December 1993. Defendant Quartz Works Corporation (“Quartz Works”) removed it to this Court on January 21, 1994, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 and 1441.

This action involves two contracts made between two merchants. Plaintiff claims damages for defendant’s alleged breach of both contracts; defendant counterclaims, conceding that it breached the first contract, but alleging that it was plaintiff who breached the second. 1 The ease was tried to the Court on September 15 and 16, 1994.

Having considered the evidence submitted before and during trial, as well as the parties’ supplemental briefs, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, pursuant to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Findings of Fact

Plaintiff Michael Smyers resides and operates his business, Engineered Specialty Products (“ESP”), in Olathe, Kansas. ESP manufactures and sells resistance welders and quartz crystal X-ray machines called goniometers. Both the welders and the gon-iometers are used in the manufacture of quartz crystal resonators, which are used in a wide variety of modern electric equipment.

*1427 Defendant Quartz Works is a Massachusetts corporation in the business of purchasing welders, goniometers and other related equipment and reselling the equipment as a package to businesses that wish to operate quartz crystal manufacturing facilities. Such arrangements are typically “turn key” projects, in which Quartz Works orders all the equipment, sets up the facility and turns it over to the owners when it is ready for operation. Lech Morawiec is the president of Quartz Works.

In 1992, Quartz Works was working with Megabucks Trading Company (“Megabucks”), the general contractor for a private buyer in the Republic of Mongolia who wanted to install a complete quartz crystal facility. Megabucks had hired Quartz Works to purchase and install all of the quartz crystal equipment.

In 1992, Quartz Works and ESP began negotiations for Quartz Works to purchase two welders from ESP, and they also explored the possibility of ESP manufacturing two goniometers for Quartz Works. ESP had never manufactured a goniometer, and Mr. Morawiec was aware of this inexperience at the time negotiations began. Mr. Smyers testified that he was eager to try building a goniometer “from the ground up,” and he was willing to give Quartz Works, as a potential buyer, a lower-than-market rate for the finished product in order to have that opportunity. 2

On September 21, 1992, Quartz Works offered to purchase two welders from ESP at a total price of $88,825.00. At the time of its offer, Quartz Works also sent ESP a check for $66,618.75, representing a seventy-five percent down payment toward the total. Upon receiving Quartz Works’ order, ESP sent back a counteroffer reflecting price adjustments for some of the related parts and a total purchase price of $89,125.00 for the welders. The invoice that ESP sent back to Quartz Works credited the payment Quartz Works had made and indicated that the total amount due was now $22,506.25.

The ESP invoice for the welders also included two additional terms. The first read “75% DOWN, 25% BEFORE SHIPMENT.” The second provided that, if ESP were not timely paid, a service charge of 1.5% per month would be applied to the balance due. Furthermore, although the original purchase order from Quartz Works indicated it wanted the welders “ASAP,” the revised invoice from ESP did not include a shipping date. There was no evidence at trial that Quartz Works objected either to the additional terms or to the omission of a shipping date. After sending its revised invoice and counteroffer to Quartz Works on September 25, 1992, plaintiff began working on the welders.

On November 11, 1992, defendant sent another purchase order to ESP. This one was for two single-diffraction goniometers, with accompanying software, and proposed a purchase price of $96,359.80. By its invoice of November 16, 1992, ESP agreed with the proposed price, but again added terms to which Quartz Works apparently did not object. ESP’s invoice indicated again that if ESP were not timely paid, a 1.5% per month service charge would be applied to any overdue amount. The invoice also included the following payment terms: DOWN, 90% BEFORE END OF ’92, BAL. N/10 [within 10 days after shipment].” It reflected receipt of the one-third payment of $32,199.90 and indicated that the balance due was $64,-239.90. ESP received no objections from Quartz Works regarding the additional terms, and it began work on the goniometers shortly thereafter.

Quartz Works did not pay ninety percent of the total due on the goniometer contract before the end of 1992, and the parties disagreed at trial about the contractual effect of this failure to pay. Mr. Smyers testified that the cash infusion the payment would have provided would have enabled ESP to give precedence to the Quartz Works project and move it “to the front of the line” ahead of other ESP customers’ projects. If the gon-iometers had been given precedence over other projects, Mr. Smyers testified, they would have been finished by the February 1993 shipping date on the ESP invoice of *1428 November 16, 1992. Otherwise, all terms on the invoice were open for renegotiation. Mr. Morawiee, on the other hand, testified that the proposed ninety percent payment before the end of the year was merely to secure a three percent discount on the total price of the goniometers. He testified that Quartz Works opted to forego the discount and pay after the beginning of the new year, but that it was never his understanding that the delivery date was linked to the payment.

The record does demonstrate that receipt of the ninety percent payment by the end of the year was a condition of the discount; however, there is no evidence other than Mr. Smyers’ testimony that the delivery date was contingent upon that payment by year-end. 3 The parties agree that when the ninety percent payment was not received by the end of 1992, ESP raised the total price of the gon-iometers to $99,340.00, and changed the payment terms to one-third down and two-thirds before shipment. At that point, Quartz Works was obligated to pay ESP $67,220.10 before shipment of the goniometers.

The goniometers were not delivered in February 1993; in fact, they were not shipped until October 1, 1993. Plaintiff contends that the later shipping date resulted from defendant’s failure to pay the ninety percent payment before the end of 1992 and to inspect and test the goniometers during the month of September.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

GFSI, INC. v. J-Loong Trading, Ltd.
505 F. Supp. 2d 935 (D. Kansas, 2007)
Koch Materials Co. v. Shore Slurry Seal, Inc.
205 F. Supp. 2d 324 (D. New Jersey, 2002)
Alaska Pacific Trading Co. v. Eagon Forest Products, Inc.
933 P.2d 417 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
880 F. Supp. 1425, 27 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 142, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4404, 1995 WL 147919, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smyers-v-quartz-works-corp-ksd-1995.