Remedies for Breach, Essay Example

In this case, Jones made it clear that she would not enter into the contract with Martin if Martin’s workers would not stay on the job until it was completed.  Therefore, the fact that Martin pulled its workers off the job to complete another job is a breach of the agreement on Martin’s part.  Because Martin went on to complete the job, Jones cannot discharge the contract because she accepted the benefit of the contract despite the breach.  Jones must pay Martin for the kitchen renovation.  She will, however, be able to deduct an amount for damages.

An award of damages is intended to place the injured party in the same position she would have been in had the agreement been completed.  In this case, even though the work was completed, the agreement was that Martin would leave its workers on the job until completed.  So Jones is entitled to damages for the week that Martin’s workers were not working on her kitchen.  The court will have to determine exactly what amount of damages Jones is entitled to.

A party that has suffered a loss as a result of breach is expected to do what it can to mitigate the extent of the loss.  The damages it can recover at law will not include what it might reasonably have avoided.  However, to qualify for recovery, damage arising from breach of contract must flow naturally from the breach.  In this case, Jones is asking for the cost of meals for all members of her family at Winston’s Gourmet Restaurant for ten days, $850.00; taxi fare each night to and from the restaurant, $140.00; and $50.00 for dental costs incurred as a result of one of her children falling on the restaurant stairs.  The court will likely award Jones damages, but not in the amount that she is claiming.

Jones should receive damages for the meals her family had to eat during the time that Martin’s workers were not on the job.  However, she did not have to take her family to a gourmet restaurant.  The court will have to determine what amount is reasonable for a family of this size to spend on meals over a period of ten days.  If Jones had no other means of transportation, for instance her own car, then the court would also likely grant the taxi fare to and from the restaurant each day.

A loss resulting from breach must be within the foreseeable limits of what the parties would have expected as a likely consequence of a failure to perform, had they thought about it when they drew up their contract.  Damages are not generally awarded to compensate an injured party for some unusual or unexpected consequence of breach.  Jones will not be able to convince a court that Martin should be responsible for her child falling down in the restaurant.  That injury was not a foreseeable result of Martin’s breach, and therefore Jones will not receive damages for that.

Works Cited

Easson, J.E., A.J. Soberman, D.A. Smyth. The Law and Business Administration in Canada. Pearson Education Canada, 2007.