Procedural Posture

Procedural Posture

Defendant and cross-complainant shipper appealed the judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County (California), which held that plaintiff and cross-defendant packer was damaged by the shipper's breach of contract. The shipper also appealed the lower court's judgment that the packer and cross-defendant business associate were not partners.

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Overview

The shipper and the packer entered into a written agreement whereby the packer agreed to solicit and pack fruit for the benefit of the shipper. After one month, the shipper terminated the agreement, claiming that the packer had breached the agreement by improperly packing certain fruits and paying more than maximum agreed prices for the fruit. The business associate did not sign the contract between the parties, and the lower court did not permit the shipper to introduce evidence of a partnership between the packer and the business associate. The lower court found that the shipper was liable to the packer for breach of contract and that the business associate was not liable to the packer. The court held that because the business associate did not sign the agreement and because the pleadings did not disclose any basis for a partnership agreement, the business associate was not the packer's partner, and the exclusion of partnership evidence was not erroneous. The court ruled that because there was ample evidence by which the trier of fact could have found that the packer did not breach the agreement, the shipper had no grounds to terminate the contract.

Outcome