Tree Preservation Co. v. United States

172 Ct. Cl. 577, 1965 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 150, 1965 WL 8281
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJuly 16, 1965
DocketNo. 328-61
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 172 Ct. Cl. 577 (Tree Preservation Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tree Preservation Co. v. United States, 172 Ct. Cl. 577, 1965 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 150, 1965 WL 8281 (cc 1965).

Opinion

Per Curiam:

This case comes before the court on the opinion, findings of fact and recommendation for conclusion of law filed by Trial Commissioner Richard Arens on March 23, 1965, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 67 (c) with ref[578]*578erence to defendant’s motion to dismiss filed July 10, 1964, and defendant’s motion to adopt the opinion and findings of fact of commissioner filed June 18, 1965. Upon consideration thereof, the court agrees with the commissioner’s findings, his opinion, and his recommended conclusion of law, as hereinafter set forth, and it hereby adopts the same as the basis for its judgment in this case. Defendant’s said motions are granted. Plaintiff is therefore not entitled to recover and the petition is dismissed.

OPINION OP COMMISSIONER

The sole question before the court in this case is whether plaintiff’s evidence establishes misrepresentation by defendant of a material fact on which plaintiff relied to its detriment. At the trial, after plaintiff 'had completed presentation of its evidence, defendant moved for a dismissal under the authority of Buie 67 (c) on the ground that on the facts and the law plaintiff had not Shown a right to recover. Buling on the motion was withheld pending the filing by defendant of a written motion to dismiss which was granted by the trial commissioner. Plaintiff filed no opposition to the motion, nor did plaintiff file requested findings of fact, objections to defendant’s requested findings of fact or a brief on the law. Although plaintiff’s default might well afford ground for disposition of the case, it is clear that the evidence of record offered by plaintiff does not meet the criteria prescribed in the decided cases to sustain an action for misrepresentation.

The facts which are detailed in the accompanying findings of fact may be stated succinctly 'as follows. Plaintiff, a New York corporation, received a request for a proposal from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the clearing of flood-created debris from river channels and banks in connection with a disaster-relief operation known as Operation Noah near Granby, Connecticut.

The contract documents did not state the mileage of the channels and banks to be cleared, nor were there any drawings or sketches. The specifications stated that “the width of the areas to be cleared has been designated by the Corps of Engineers through painted or staked 'boundaries.” The area [579]*579to be cleared was divided into segments which, were described in the specifications by reference to certain landmarks (bridges, 'highways, etc.), as marked.

In general, the debris to be cleared was not uniformly scattered over the entire area but was lodged here and there, and there were large spaces (1 or 2 acres) in which there was no debris and, accordingly, no work to be done. Precise measurements of lengths of the winding river channels and banks to be cleared were not practicable. Accordingly, the only measurements were estimates derived from maps of the general area and from speedometer readings of cars driven over the roads adj acent to the river channels.

Prior to making its proposal, plaintiff’s vice-president, who subsequently signed plaintiff’s proposal, physically inspected the areas outlined in the specifications and familiarized himself with the work to be done. Plaintiff was awarded the contract work on segments A, B, and D, but, before execution of a formal negotiated contract, new flooding occurred and caused additional debris to be deposited in the area. Plaintiff’s vice-president, in company with defendant’s representatives, made a new inspection of the work areas where the location of the debris was clearly visible. Thereafter, it was agreed that the contract price would be increased to reimburse plaintiff for the additional work caused by the new flooding, and a formal contract was entered into by the parties.

After a series of warnings to plaintiff, because of the delay in completing the work and an extension of the completion date, defendant finally terminated the contract for default.

Plaintiff made claim for additional compensation before the contracting officer and alleged that it had sustained substantial losses because of a number of factors, including “misrepresentation by the Government of the mileage contained in the segments to be cleared.” In a subsequent meeting, however, regarding possible relief to plaintiff, plaintiff’s representative stated “that it was withdrawing any claim based on the misrepresentation by the Government as to the mileage involved in the contract work, explaining that subsequent measurement by the claimant (plaintiff) disclosed that the Government estimate was correct.”

[580]*580Following an adverse decision by the contracting officer on plaintiff’s claim for additional compensation, plaintiff appealed to the Board of Contract Appeals of the Corps of Engineers, before which plaintiff’s vice-president testified, without Objection, that prior to submission of plaintiff’s proposal a Lieutenant Bradley (now deceased), who was in the office of defendant’s resident engineer, Captain Gerald Kelley, advised him that the length of segment A was 4.6 miles, the length of segment B was 6 miles, and the length of segment I) was 2 miles, making a total of the three segments of 12.6 miles. In dismissing plaintiff’s appeal, the Board found that there was no evidence of misrepresentation, but that the matter sounded in breach of contract over which the Board had no jurisdiction to grant relief.1

Plaintiff initially claimed damages in this court on the basis of four counts of alleged breach of contract, but in a pretrial conference plaintiff dismissed the first three counts, leaving only the fourth count in which plaintiff seeks reformation of the contract 'because of 'alleged misrepresentation. At the pretrial conference, a number of exhibits, including the transcript of the hearing before the Board, were, without objection, admitted in evidence.

At the trial of the case, Major (formerly Captain) Gerald Kelley, who had been defendant’s resident engineer, was produced as plaintiff’s only witness. He reaffirmed the testimony which he had previously given before the Board and testified that the figure of 12.6 miles for the total mileage of segments A, B, and D was “used in the office as a reference of how much ground we were talking about,” and that, “In conversation, if a man asked us how. far it was, I can remember we used this 12.6 as to how much the mileage was.”

From the foregoing, the crucial facts may be summarized as follows:

1. There was no representation in the contract documents as to the length of the segments to be cleared.

2. Before the contract was entered into, plaintiff’s representative made two physical inspections of the area to be [581]*581cleared and saw for himself tbe outline of the work to be done.

3. Precise measurements of lengths of the winding river channels and banks to be cleared were not practicable, and, moreover, were not a necessary element in determining the amount of work to be done.

4. Plaintiff’s representative stated to defendant’s representatives that plaintiff was withdrawing any claim based on misrepresentation and that subsequent measurement by plaintiff disclosed that the Government estimate of the mileage involved was correct.

5. There is no evidence that the Government estimate was not substantially correct, or that plaintiff was misled.

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591 F.2d 1308 (Court of Claims, 1979)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
172 Ct. Cl. 577, 1965 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 150, 1965 WL 8281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tree-preservation-co-v-united-states-cc-1965.