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American Contract Law for a Global Age, 2017a

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Thus, damages <strong>for</strong> a wrongful rejection are limited to the difference between the<br />

market value of the goods and the unpaid contract price together with any incidental<br />

damages.<br />

Turning to our case, we are reminded that we may not re-weigh the evidence<br />

and must sustain the trial court on any legal theory. Given our standard of review,<br />

the trial court could have concluded that Capitol made a wrongful, but effective<br />

rejection of the Crane. Capitol’s rejection was wrongful because it was not based on<br />

any non-con<strong>for</strong>mity.<br />

In this case, the trial court could have justifiably concluded that Capitol<br />

returned the Crane within a reasonable time and provided seasonable notification of<br />

its rejection of the Crane. As to the timing of the return, Capitol’s owner, Dotlich,<br />

testified that shortly after the contract was signed in June of 1999, he returned the<br />

Crane to Brandeis’ lot and told an employee of Brandeis that he no longer wanted to<br />

buy it. Furthermore, Brandeis had a pattern of canceling contracts in the past after<br />

customers had signed them, but be<strong>for</strong>e money had changed hands.<br />

The appropriate calculation of damages is the difference between the contract<br />

price and the market price at the time of delivery plus incidental damages. Ind. Code<br />

§ 26-1-2-709(3); Ind. Code § 26-1-2-708. There<strong>for</strong>e, we find that the trial court did not<br />

err when it declined to include the <strong>Contract</strong> price in the damage award.<br />

By calculating the difference between the contract price and the market price,<br />

Brandeis would receive $19,273.46. The trial court awarded Brandeis the sum of<br />

$29,067. By examining the post-trial briefs filed by the parties which outlined their<br />

individual damage calculations, we can infer that the trial court’s damage award<br />

includes the difference between the <strong>Contract</strong> price and the fair market value of the<br />

Crane which is $19,273.46 and the cost of the inspection of the repairs which cost<br />

$9,794.86.<br />

Judgment affirmed.<br />

_____________________<br />

Review Question 7. Wouldn’t the simpler thing in Brandeis Machinery be to<br />

just give the seller the contract price plus the late payment fees provided <strong>for</strong> in the<br />

contract? Why then does the court spend considerable time trying to calculate some<br />

other remedy? What would the problem be with giving the plaintiff here the damages<br />

<strong>for</strong> which it contended?<br />

Review Question 8. The goal of contract damages, it is frequently said, is to<br />

“make whole” the breaching party. What position would the seller be in if Capitol had<br />

per<strong>for</strong>med? What position is it in after Capitol repudiates? What is the difference<br />

between those two states? Has the seller been made whole?<br />

_____________________<br />

______________________________________________________________________________<br />

UNIT 23: THE EXPECTATION INTEREST 489

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