Webb's Truck Leasing Corp. v. CHKD Thrift Stores, LLC

Court of Appeals of Virginia·Decided July 21, 2026·No. 0246251·Unpublished

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Record No. 0246-25-1

WEBB’S TRUCK LEASING CORP. v. CHKD THRIFT STORES, LLC

Present: Judges AtLee, Chaney and Bernhard Argued at Norfolk, Virginia Opinion Issued July 21, 2026*

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF SUFFOLK Lawson Wayne Farmer, Judge

Rachel L. Yates (Yates Appellate Law, on briefs), for appellant.

Angela Boice Axselle (Joel M. McCray; Wimbish Gentile McCray & Roeber PLLC, on brief), for appellee.

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY JUDGE VERNIDA R. CHANEY

Webb’s Truck Leasing Corp. (“Webb”) appeals the circuit court’s judgment granting

CHKD Thrift Stores, LLC’s (“CHKD”) warrant in detinue and dismissing Webb’s claims for

quantum meruit and unjust enrichment. Webb also challenges the court’s exclusion of evidence

concerning the parties’ prior course of dealing, historical rates, and certain out-of-court statements.

Webb contends that, even without an enforceable post-termination agreement, it was entitled to

compensation for post-termination storage, delivery, and related services and could retain CHKD’s

property until paid. Finding no reversible error, this Court affirms.

* This opinion is not designated for publication. See Code § 17.1-413(A). BACKGROUND1

CHKD Thrift Stores “receive[s] donated goods, sell[s] those goods and remit[s] the net

proceeds to” benefit the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. For years, CHKD and

Webb operated under an oral agreement under which Webb stored and transported trailers

containing CHKD’s excess charitable-donation inventory as directed by CHKD. R. 496, 499,

580.

In March 2018, CHKD notified Webb that the arrangement was terminated and

demanded return of CHKD’s charitable donations. Webb did not return the donations, and in

July 2018, CHKD again notified Webb that the arrangement was terminated, requested access to

Webb’s trailers to retrieve the donations, and paid Webb’s outstanding invoices totaling

$60,694.76 in an effort to make a “clean break.” R. 511-13, 752-55. Webb still did not permit

CHKD to retrieve the donations nor did Webb make efforts to return the trailers.

On July 1, 2019, CHKD, through counsel, sent Webb another letter documenting the

prior termination letters, declaring that all agreements between the parties would conclude on

August 31, 2019, and demanding return of the charitable donations by that date. R. 515-17,

756-58. The letter enclosed payment of $73,425 and stated that the payment “represent[ed]

CHKD’s payment in full and satisfie[d] any and all obligations” of CHKD to Webb. R. 757.

The letter added that, after August 31, 2019, CHKD and Webb would have “no further

agreement or professional relationship,” that CHKD would “not pay any additional money” to

Webb, and that CHKD would have “[n]o obligation of any kind” to Webb after that date. R.

757. Webb admitted that it cashed the check and that, as of August 31, 2019, CHKD did not

owe Webb any debt related to the CHKD donations. R. 521-22, 641.

1 On appeal from a bench trial, “we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party.” Congdon v. Congdon, 40 Va. App. 255, 258 (2003). -2- At the time of the termination of the parties’ agreement, Webb had 75 trailers containing

CHKD’s charitable donations. R. 519, 544. For a 60-day return window, CHKD offered to pay

a fixed transportation fee of $165 per trailer for returned donations. R. 557, 757. Webb returned

none of the donations within that period.

On August 23, 2019, Ms. Webb, who testified on Webb’s behalf, Dennis Ryan, the

retired Chief Financial Officer for Children’s Health System and former CHKD corporate

manager, and Buzz Heidt, chairman of the CHKD Board, met to discuss the return of the trailers.

The parties agreed that CHKD wanted all of its charitable donations returned as soon as possible.

Ms. Webb acknowledged that after termination she had not sent a monthly bill and had “never

sent any lien notices to CHKD Thrift.” R. 573, 639.

Between October 2019 and March 2020, Webb returned approximately 40 of the 75

trailers to CHKD. R. 543-44, 550, 552, 556. During that same period, Ryan sent an email in

December 2019 stating that CHKD was “prepared to pay two months, as discussed, at $7,000 a

month flat fee, plus the transportation costs of those deliveries.” R. 545. CHKD then paid Webb

$21,260 by check dated January 5, 2020. R. 544. Ryan testified that the payment was a

“generous gesture” and not for storage because the “whole arrangement was for delivery, not

storage.” R. 545, 570. He explained that CHKD’s prior offer had been $42,000 for full delivery

of all trailers, that the trailers returned by the time of the January payment represented roughly

one-third of that total, and that $21,260 reflected approximately one-third of the $42,000 plus

$7,000 in delivery fees. R. 544-45. Webb stopped returning donations in March 2020 and still

retained 35 trailers at trial.

This appeal arises from two related suits tried together in the circuit court. In the first,

CHKD sought return of its charitable donations through a warrant in detinue. In the second,

-3- Webb sued CHKD for breach of contract,2 quantum meruit, and unjust enrichment, alleging that

the parties had entered into a new oral agreement for continued storage and delivery beginning in

September 2019.

After a bench trial, the circuit court found that CHKD had terminated the parties’

arrangement, paid what it owed, and demanded return of its property. R. 710-12, 717-18. The

court found that there was no post-termination agreement, observing that the testimony

concerning the alleged material terms was “all over the place.” R. 712. The court stated, “You

know why you don’t have a written agreement when both sides want a written agreement? It’s

because both sides haven’t agreed.” R. 715. The court also found that CHKD had been

“screaming from the rooftops since 2018[:] We don’t want to do business with you anymore.

Give us our stuff back.” R. 712. The court granted CHKD’s warrant in detinue and dismissed

Webb’s claims.

ANALYSIS

I. Standard of Review

A circuit court’s factual findings following a bench trial are “entitled to the same weight

as a jury verdict.” Dunbar Grp., LLC v. Tignor, 267 Va. 361, 366-67 (2004). This Court defers

to those findings and will not set them aside unless they are plainly wrong or without evidence to

support them. Id. at 367. We also presume that the circuit court resolved factual ambiguities and

conflicting inferences in favor of the prevailing party. See Hill v. Commonwealth, 297 Va. 804,

808 (2019).

To the extent that this appeal presents questions of law, we review those issues de novo.

Pae Nat’l Sec. Sols., LLC v. Constellis, LLC, 83 Va. App. 252, 264 (2025). We review

2 Webb does not challenge the dismissal of its breach of contract claim on appeal. Its assignments of error challenge the detinue ruling, the dismissal of the quantum meruit and unjust enrichment claims, and the exclusion of evidence. -4- evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. Commonwealth v. Proffitt, 292 Va. 626, 634 (2016).

Even if an evidentiary ruling is erroneous, reversal is not required when the error is harmless.

Barkley v. Wallace, 267 Va. 369, 374 (2004); Code § 8.01-678.

II. Webb’s Equitable Theories and Warrant in Detinue

Webb primarily argues that, once the circuit court found no binding post-termination

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