88 N.Y.S. 73 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1904
The plaintiffs have recovered a verdict for a breach of contract, by which they claim that the defendant became obligated to continue the business of manufacturing cotton wadding throughout the year 1900, and to permit them to sell the product on a commission of five per cent on all sales made by them. The defendant continued to manufacture and the plaintiffs continued to sell the goods until the 20th day of July, 1900, when the defendant notified the plaintiffs- that it had sold its business to the Union Wadding Company, and it thereupon ceased manufacturing, except that it continued to manufacture" carriage wadding until August first, in fulfillment of an existing contract with other parties. The case was submitted to the jury upon the theory that the suspension of manufacture constituted a violation of the contract, and the jury were permitted to assess as damages the probable profits that -the plaintiffs would have made had the defendant continued to manufacture in good faith throughout the year 1900. The defendant claims that the contract was not sufficiently definite to obligate it to manufacture any particular quantity,. or continue manufacturing, or to prevent the transfer of its business, and that even if it be guilty of a breach of the contract only nominal damages are recoverable.
• The plaintiffs were commission agents engaged in selling cotton and woolen goods in the city of Few York. Shortly prior to the 1st day of. January, 1899, the president of the defendant applied to the plaintiffs to become its agents in selling cotton wadding which it was about to manufacture. There existed at this time a cotton
The plaintiffs gave -evidence tending to show and sufficient to warrant the jury in finding that on the 2d day of January, 1900, the president of the defendant called upon them, expressed satisfaction with the way they had handled the business during the previous year, stated that they should have the business for the year 1900 on the same terms as for the first year and that as soon as the existing contract for the sale of carriage Wadding expired, which would be on the first day of August, they should have that business also? which he represented amounted to $30,000 during the previous year; that the question concerning the defendant’s selling out to the trust arose again at this time and the president of the' defendant stated that “they would not sell out;” and that plaintiffs accepted this proposition on the express condition that they should have the carriage wadding business as offered,
Assuming that both parties' acted in good faith in entering into this contract, it is evident that it was intended to continue for a year and that the defendant should continue business and that the plaintiffs should continue to represent it as in -the past. Moreover, the plaintiffs accepted the employment upon condition that they should have the sale of the carriage wadding after August
It follows, therefore, that the judgment and order should be affirmed, with costs.
Van Brunt, P. J., O’Brien and Hatch, JJ., concurred; Patterson, J., dissented.
Judgment and order affirmed, with costs.