LAW601 | Introduction to Law | A Case Study on the Contract Law

On the second day, John's wife Marge decided that she wanted the eight doors to the house painted a different color, candy apple red. Tom told her it would take an extra two hours and an extra gallon of paint. Marge agreed verbally. Tom went to the paint store and purchased one can of candy apple red paint requested by Marge at $30 a can.

At the end of the fourth day (32 hours), Tom ran out of paint. The house was painted on only three sides. Tom had painted the eight doors in the color requested by Marge.

John refused to buy more paint. Tom did not have paint on the fifth day, so he packed up his equipment and sent John a bill for 32 hours of labor and one gallon of paint. 

John believes Tom wasted the paint so that he would not have enough to finish the house. John hates the color Marge chose for the doors and says that was not part of the contract.

John refused to pay the bill.

In his suit against John, what are Tom's rights and equipment and sent John a bill for 32 hours of labor and one gallon of paint. 
John believes Tom wasted the paint so that he would not have enough to finish the house. John hates the color Marge chose for the doors and says that was not part of the contract.

John refused to pay the bill.

In his suit against John, what are Tom's rights and what damages, if any, will he recover? Discuss.

Answer:

A business contract creates specifications and responsibilities to be fulfilled by both parties to a contract entered legally. A breach to a contract arises whenever a party fails to complete tasks on time, or according to agreed standards. Tom stands to be compensated fully for the one week as he was available and ready to do the paint were it not for the paint to have finished before the task was done. The discussion focuses on the rights given on the painter and the remedies if any he is to receive for the failure to pay the agreed amount after the breach of contract.

Tom, apart from engaging in extra task was ready to work on the specified areas and did his part were it not for the paint to have elapsed and only cover a section due to the non-premium nature he specified earlier in the contract. Further, John having been advised to buy the premium paint went ahead after discovering a cheaper paint to buy it and brought it which affected the overall quality which could not cover the entire area agreed in the contract.

Moreover, Tom upon realizing that the paint would not fit advised the client to add more or rather notified him of the poor quality and its effect on the task. As such, according to the law of contracts, he stands to be compensated for the hours agreed as the breach of the contract emanated from John’s decision to purchase a cheaper paint instead of the recommended one and refusing to buy extra ones basing on the assumption that he wasted the paint given for the task (Schmidt-Kessel and Silkens 2015).

Tom stands to receive compensatory damages for the time he dedicated to the task and possibly turned down other offers to concentrate for the full 40 hours agreed in the contract. At the same time, he is set to receive the punitive damages arising from the breach of contract which in part harmed his operation and estimated payout (Stone, R. and Devenney, J., 2017).

However, Tom stands to receive no payment for the task done on painting other colours on the doors and purchasing the paint requested by the wife. A contract is binding as long as individuals abide by the written aspects (Andrews 2016). As such, going by the verbal request from John’s wife does not count in the contract and that no damages would be remitted for a party not included in the written contract. Instead, Tom should have sought permission or guidance from the respective person in the contract prior to working on the task not agreed earlier (Knapp, Crystal and Prince 2016).

On the other hand, Tom would have no right to claim for extra hours other than the ones agreed previously in the contract. All the time taken in painting the different colour coincides with the contract which requests one colour and specified hours as estimated by the painter (Andrews 2016). Written contracts are binding and serve as evidence in case of a breach of contract. In this case, Tom would have no basis to argue his case for extra time pay as the fault is on his side for not adhering to the laid down specifications in the contract.

Therefore, John would be compelled to either pay for the specified 32 hours or deduct the hours worked in painting the doors which were not in the written agreement. However, Tom has the right to demand for the full hours agreed based on the fact that the client failed to add more materials required for the paint job to be completed. The fact that he compromised on the quality gives the painter the right to demand full pay excluding the one dedicated to painting the doors. 

References

Andrews, N., 2016. Remedies for Breach of Contract. In Arbitration and Contract Law (pp. 279-333). Springer, Cham.

Knapp, C.L., Crystal, N.M. and Prince, H.G., 2016. Problems in Contract Law: cases and materials. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

Schmidt-Kessel, M. and Silkens, E., 2015. Breach of Contract. In European Perspectives on the Common European Sales Law (pp. 111-135). Springer, Cham.

Stone, R. and Devenney, J., 2017. The modern law of contract. Routledge.