Barrington Corp. v. Patrick Lumber Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 29 February 1984
• Citation: 447 So.2d 785
• Parties: 38 UCC Rep.Serv. 744 BARRINGTON CORPORATION v. PATRICK LUMBER COMPANY, INC. Civ. 3994.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

Page 785

447 So.2d 785

38 UCC Rep.Serv. 744

BARRINGTON CORPORATION v. PATRICK LUMBER COMPANY, INC.

Civ. 3994.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

Feb. 29, 1984.

John F. Porter, III of Livingston, Porter & Paulk, Scottsboro, for appellant.

John F. Proctor of Thomas & Proctor, Scottsboro, for appellee.

WRIGHT, Presiding Judge.

This case concerns a breach of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.

During the latter part of the 1970's the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began offering interest-free loans to customers for the installation of energy conservation measures in their homes. Under this program a TVA energy advisor would inspect a customer's home and then recommend various measures to improve energy efficiency and conservation. If a customer then hired a contractor to implement the recommendations, and they were approved by a TVA inspector, TVA would pay the contractor.

Patrick Lumber Co., Inc., appellee-plaintiff, began participating in the home insulation program in approximately 1979. Barrington Corporation, appellant-defendant, manufactures and markets TVA-approved storm windows.

Beginning in May of 1980 plaintiff ordered a number of windows from defendant for installation in six separate homes under the TVA home insulation program. An invoice accompanied the windows upon delivery to plaintiff which designated the specific job for which the windows had been ordered, noting the number and specifications for all the windows. The description of the windows all contained a notation indicating that the windows were "TVA windows."

After installation, the TVA inspector rejected a number of the windows on all six jobs for not being in compliance with TVA standards.

After attempts by plaintiff and defendant to correct the problems created by the nonconforming windows, plaintiff sent defendant a letter on May 15, 1981, outlining additional expenses incurred as a consequence of the nonconforming windows.

On August 11, 1981, plaintiff filed a petition for declaratory judgment in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Alabama, claiming defendant breached both an implied warranty of merchantability and an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose by supplying plaintiff with windows which failed to meet TVA approval, thereby causing plaintiff to suffer damages in the amount of $3,677.95. Defendant answered, denying any breach of warranty and counterclaimed for $1,653.60, plus interest and cost for goods sold and delivered to plaintiff for which it had received no payment.

On June 20, 1983, the trial judge ruled in favor of plaintiff finding that defendant had breached an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose under § 7-2-315, Code of Alabama 1975, and awarded plaintiff damages in the amount of $3,677.95. The trial court also ruled in plaintiff's favor on defendant's counterclaim. Subsequently the trial court denied defendant's motion for a new trial and defendant appeals.

The fundamental issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in finding that defendant had breached an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose under § 7-2-315. Defendant argues that the court's finding of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and that adequate notice of a breach was given is plainly and palpably in error and is not supported by the evidence.

"In an action for breach of an implied warranty, the plaintiff must prove the existence of the implied warranty, a breach of that warranty, and damages proximately resulting from that breach." Storey v. Day Heating and Air Conditioning Co., 56 Ala.App. 81, 83, 319 So.2d 279, 280 (1975). A warranty for fitness for a particular purpose is implied if: (1) the seller has reason to know the buyer's particular purpose, (2) the seller has reason to know that the buyer is relying on the seller's skill or judgment to furnish appropriate goods; and (3) the buyer, in fact, relied upon the seller's skill or judgment. Donald v. City National Bank of Dothan, 295 Ala. 320, 329 So.2d 92 (1976).

The existence of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is ordinarily a question of fact to be determined by the factfinder, either the jury or trial judge, especially if the evidence is conflicting. See, Singer Co. v. E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., 579 F.2d 433 (8th Cir.1978); Kennebrew v. Southern Automatic Electric Shock Machine Co., 106 Ala. 377, 17 So. 545 (1894); 3 R. Anderson, Uniform Commercial Code, § 2-315:69 (3rd ed. 1983). In the present case, the trial court heard the evidence ore tenus and after evaluation determined that the legal criteria for an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose existed and had been breached. The record contains sufficient evidence to support the trial court's holding.

Evidence that defendant had knowledge of plaintiff's particular purpose in buying the windows and that the buyer was relying on plaintiff's judgment and skill to furnish appropriate windows was present in the testimony of both plaintiff's and defendant's witnesses. The evidence was uncontradicted that plaintiff relied upon defendant's expertise in purchasing the windows. Moreover the record contains evidence that the windows delivered by defendant did not properly conform to TVA specifications or the specifications of a particular customer.

For example the evidence disclosed that some of the windows on two of the jobs were rejected because they were too loose and that on two other jobs vertical windows were delivered even though horizontal windows had been ordered. Evidence further revealed that on another order the windows were rejected because of inadequate weather stripping and that in one order a customer rejected all of the windows because one large window not meeting TVA approval did not match the other windows he ordered.

Def...