Henningsen v. Mayfair Packing Co.

EDMONDS, J.

Helen Henningsen, as assignee of J. B. Griffin, sued upon a written guaranty. The appeal from a judgment in her favor challenges her standing to bring this action and the sufficiency of the evidence to support the findings upon which the award of damages was based.

In September, 1946, Griffin, a wholesale broker and distributor of food, was doing business as the J. B. Griffin Company. By an oral agreement, he purchased several carloads of dried fruit from Mayfair Packing Company. The agreement included a guaranty in writing by the corporation against declining prices. The guaranty, signed by W. L. Battaglia as agent for Mayfair, referred to three specific carload lots and stated that “we guarantee your floor stocks of Mayfair Dried Fruits against decline in our prices.”

Between January 1, 1947, and November 11, 1948, the prices of Mayfair’s dried fruit declined. Griffin sold most of his Mayfair fruit during that period, generally at prices below those for which he purchased it. He then employed an attorney to enforce the guaranty and assigned his claim to Helen Henningsen, the attorney’s secretary.

The complaint was in three counts. In the first, a breach of the written guaranty was charged; the second pleaded an account stated. The third count was based upon an alleged breach of a contract to give Griffin an exclusive dealership. The corporation’s answer denied these allegations and pleaded affirmatively the defenses of fraud, absence of consideration, the statute of limitations, and the assignee’s asserted lack of standing to sue.

Upon the trial, a nonsuit was granted as to Battaglia. Judgment was rendered against Mayfair on the first cause of action and in its favor on the second and third counts. Mayfair’s motion for a new trial was denied.

The findings of fact state that the guaranty, by custom and usage of the fruit packing industry, was limited to a reasonable period of time after the receipt of the fruit by the buyer, terminating in this case on April 14, 1947. Another finding was that Mayfair’s prices on dried fruit declined during the period of the guaranty, reducing the value of Griffin’s stocks in the amount of $7,593.11.

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