Hinson v. Center Court Productions

• Decision Date: 02 October 1987
• Citation: 514 So.2d 1374
• Parties: . 86-984. Supreme Court of Alabama
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 1374

514 So.2d 1374

Eddy R. HINSON v. CENTER COURT PRODUCTIONS and Prudential Insurance Company of America.

86-984.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Oct. 2, 1987.

Richard H. Ramsey III, Dothan, for appellant.

Herman Cobb of Buntin & Cobb, Dothan, for appellees.

JONES, Justice.

The plaintiff appeals from a summary judgment for the defendants in an action for fraud and breach of contract. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

In January 1986, Buchanan, an employee of Center Court Productions, approached Eddy Hinson to solicit Hinson's participation in an upcoming "Better Living Show" at a shopping mall in Dothan. Buchanan told Hinson that Hinson's business Interconnect Telecom Company, would be the only telecommunications systems company participating in the show. Buchanan also showed Hinson a letter from the mall management commending Buchanan on the previous year's show.

Hinson delayed making a decision until he had verified Buchanan's statements with the mall office. Several days later, however, Hinson signed a contract for participation in the show and gave Buchanan a check for $250. The contract, signed on January 27, 1986, gave Hinson a 10-foot by 10-foot display space in the show (to be held March 2-9, 1986) for a total rental fee of $500, with a balance of $250. At the bottom of the contract, in distinctive type and separate from the body of the contract, were the words "ALL CONTRACTS SUBJECT TO MALL APPROVAL."

Hinson began preparations for the show by purchasing approximately $4,000 of equipment to display, demonstrate, and sell. Three days before the show, however, Buchanan informed Hinson that Interconnect Telecom would not be allowed to participate in the show and that the home office of Center Court Productions would return Hinson's $250 rental payment.

In his deposition, Hinson stated that when he questioned Buchanan about the reason for the cancellation, Buchanan finally said that the GTE telecommunications company was responsible. Hinson had been "let go" from GTE several years before. Hinson also stated in his deposition that, according to Buchanan, GTE, which maintained a store within the mall, was a member of the mall's merchants association and could have disapproved Hinson's contract for participation in the show.

Hinson sued Center Court Productions for fraud and breach of contract. Center Court filed an answer denying all of Hinson's allegations and filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court, after considering the pleadings, Hinson's deposition, the affidavit of Hinson's secretary, and the exhibits of record, granted Center Court's motion for summary judgment. Hinson's Rule 59(e), A.R.Civ.P., motion was denied and this appeal followed.

Hinson argues that summary judgment was an inappropriate disposition of his tort claim because the reasonableness both of his activities in reliance on Center Court's representations and of Center Court's failure to notify Hinson of the contract's cancellation within a reasonable time before the show were factual questions to be resolved by the factfinder.

After careful review of the record, however, we find no factual evidence to support Hinson's claim of fraud against Center Court. The document giving Hinson the right to participate in the show clearly stated that the contract was subject to the mall's approval. Center Court, then, did not control, or advise the mall with regard to, the final approval of any contract for participation in the show. Therefore, based on the express language of the contract, Center Court, as a matter of law, could not be guilty of a misrepresentation to Hinson as to the approval of Hinson's participation in the...