Hawkins v. McGee

• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court
• Citation: Hawkins v. McGee, 84 N.H. 114 (N.H. 1929)
• Decision Date: 04 June 1929
• Parties: George Hawkins v. Edward R. B. McGee.

84 N.H. 114

George Hawkins v. Edward R. B. McGee.

New Hampshire Supreme Court

June 4, 1929.

Coös,

Ovide J. Coulombe and Ira W. Thayer (Mr. Thayer orally), for the plaintiff.

Matthew J. Ryan and Crawford D. Hening (by brief and orally), for the defendant.

Branch, J.

1. The operation in question consisted in the removal of a considerable quantity of scar tissue from the palm of the plaintiff’s right hand and the grafting of skin taken from the plaintiff’s chest in place thereof. The scar tissue was the result of a severe burn caused by contact with an electric wire, which the plaintiff received about nine years before the time of the transactions here involved. There was evidence to the effect that before the operation was performed the plaintiff and his father went to the defendant’s office and that the defendant in answer to the question, “How long will the boy be in the hospital?”, replied, “Three or four days, . . . not over four; then the boy can go home, and it will be justafewdayswhenhe will be able to go back to work with a perfect hand.” Clearly this and other testimony to the same effect would not justify a finding that the doctor contracted to complete the hospital treatment in three or four days or that the plaintiff would be able to go back to work within a few days thereafter. The above statements could only be construed as expressions of opinion or predictions as to the probable duration of the treatment and plaintiff’s resulting disability, and the fact that these estimates were exceeded would impose no contractual liability upon the defendant. The only substantial basis for the plaintiff’s claim is the testimony that the defendant also said before the operation was decided upon, “ I will guarantee to make the hand a hundred per cent perfect hand” or “a hundred per cent good hand.” The plaintiff was present when these words were alleged to have been spoken, and if they are to be taken at their face value, it seems obvious that proof of their utterance would establish the giving of a warranty in accordance with his contention.

The defendant argues, however, that even if these words were uttered by him, no reasonable man would understand that they were used with the intention of entering into any “contractual relation whatever,” and that they could reasonably be understood only “as his expression in strong language that he believed and expected that as a result of the operation he would give the plaintiff a very good hand.” It may be conceded, as the defendant contends, that before the question of the making of a contract should be submitted to a jury, there is a preliminary question of law for the trial court to pass upon, i. e. “whether the words could possibly have the meaning imputed to them by the party who founds his case upon a certain interpretation,” but it cannot be held that the trial court decided this question erroneously in the present case. It is unnecessary to determine at this time whether the argument of the defendant based upon “common knowledge of the uncertainty which attends all surgical operations” and the improbability that a surgeon would ever contract to make a damaged part of the human body “ one hundred per cent perfect” would, in the absence of countervailing considerations, be regarded as conclusive, for there were other factors in the present case which tended to support the contention of the plaintiff. There was evidence that the defendant repeatedly solicited from the plaintiff’s father the opportunity to perform this operation, and the theory was advanced by plaintiff’s counsel in cross-examination of defendant, that he sought an opportunity to “experiment on skin grafting” in which he had had little previous experience. If the jury accepted this part of plaintiff’s contention, there would be a reasonable basis for the further conclusion that if defendant spoke the words attributed to him, he did so with the intention that they should be accepted at their face value, as an inducement for the granting of consent to the operation by the plaintiff and his father, and there was ample evidence that they were so accepted by them. The question of the making of the alleged contract was properly submitted to the jury.

2. The substance of the charge to the jury on the question of damages appears in the following quotation: “If you find the plaintiff entitled to anything, he is entitled to recover for what pain and suffering he has been made to endure and what injury he has sustained over and above the injury that he had before.” To this instruction the defendant seasonably excepted. By it, the jury was permitted to consider two elements of damage, (1) pain and suffering due to the operation, and (2) positive ill effects of the operation upon the plaintiff’s hand. Authority for any specific rule of damages in cases of this kind seems to be lacking, but when tested by general principle and by analogy, it appears that the foregoing instruction was erroneous.

“By ‘damages’ as that term is used in the law of contracts, is intended compensation for a breach, measured in the terms of the contract.” Davis v. Company, 77 N. H. 403 , 404. The purpose of the law is to “put the plaintiff in as good a position as he would have been in had the defendant kept his contract.” 3 Williston, Cont., s. 1338; Hardie &c. Co. v. Company, 150 N. C. 150 . The measure of recovery “is based upon what the defendant should have given the plaintiff, not what the plaintiff has given the defendant or otherwise expended.” 3 Williston, Cont., s. 1341. “The only losses that can be said fairly to come within the terms of a contract are such as the parties must have had in mind when the contract was made, or such as they either knew or ought to have known would probably result from a failure to comply with its terms.” Davis v. Company, 77 N. H. 403 , 404; Hurd v. Dunsmore, 63 N. H. 171 .

The present case is closely analogous to one in which a machine is built for a certain purpose and warranted to do certain work. In such cases, the usual rule of damages for breach of warranty in the sale of chattels is applied and it is held that the measure of damages is the difference between the value of the machine if it had corresponded with the warranty and its actual value, together with such incidental losses as the parties...