Plastics & Equipment Sales Co., Inc. v. DeSoto, Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 December 1980
• Docket Number: No. 80-129,80-129
• Citation: 415 N.E.2d 492,91 Ill.App.3d 1011,47 Ill.Dec. 487
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois
• Parties: , 47 Ill.Dec. 487 PLASTICS & EQUIPMENT SALES CO., INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DeSOTO, INC., and Glenn Workman, Defendants-Appellees

Page 492

415 N.E.2d 492

91 Ill.App.3d 1011, 47 Ill.Dec. 487

PLASTICS & EQUIPMENT SALES CO., INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DeSOTO, INC., and Glenn Workman, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 80-129.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Second Division,

Dec. 16, 1980.

Defrees & Fiske, Chicago (Edward J. Griffin and Sarah M. Stegemoeller, Chicago, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellant.

Arthur L. Klein, Richard K. Wray and Arnstein, Gluck, Weitzenfeld & Minow, Chicago, for defendants-appellees.

HARTMAN, Justice:

On April 12, 1976, Plastics & Equipment Sales Co., Inc. ("Plastics") filed a three count complaint against Burwood Products Company ("Burwood"), DeSoto, Inc. ("DeSoto") and Glenn Workman, general manager of DeSoto. Defendants DeSoto and Workman moved for summary judgment on April 11, 1979, supported by depositions, affidavits and exhibits to which Plastics responded, also relying on deposition testimony, affidavits and exhibits. The trial court granted summary judgment on all three counts on July 11, 1979. A motion to reconsider and vacate that determination was denied on December 4, 1979 in an order that contained appropriate Supreme Court Rule 304(a) language (Ill.Rev.Stat.1979, ch. 110A, par. 304(a)). Plastics voluntarily dismissed its complaint against Burwood. Plastics appeals from the summary judgment orders, arguing that questions of fact were raised as to whether Plastics was entitled to a commission as a broker or a finder and whether defendants entered into a civil conspiracy to deprive Plastics of a brokerage commission. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

In count I of its complaint, Plastics alleged that on December 22, 1975, it entered into an oral contract with DeSoto to purchase a 1500-ton Farrell plastic molding machine, which DeSoto breached, causing $30,000 in damages to Plastics. In count II, Plastics alleged that the three defendants entered into a conspiracy to deprive Plastics of the profits it would have received had it resold the Farrell to Burwood, for which it sought $30,000 compensatory and $100,000 punitive damages. In count III, Plastics alleged that the defendants deprived it of a $30,000 commission which arose from brokerage services performed for DeSoto, for which it sought $30,000 in damages.

That deposition testimony which is uncontroverted reveals that DeSoto's plastics manufacturing plant in Jackson, Mississippi, which specialized in custom molding, was intended to be closed in the fall of 1975. Initially, DeSoto expected to sell the entire plant as a going concern; however, it resorted to the sale of its machinery, personal and real property, on an individual basis when that effort failed. A list of eight of the available larger machines was compiled by DeSoto on December 5, 1975 on which each was described by make, tonnage, physical dimensions and its price. One of these machines, a 1500-ton Farrell injection molder, was listed for sale at $85,000. The list was generally distributed to various persons in the plastics industry in order to facilitate the sale of this equipment. At the bottom of the list appeared the following language: "Terms of sale: 1. As is, where is. DeSoto will disconnect. Buyer must disassemble and move. 2. Deposit 20% of purchase with balance at time of shipment."

Deposition testimony further disclosed that John Clark, president and sole shareholder of Plastics, which was in the business of buying, selling and repairing used plastic processing equipment, learned of the proposed liquidation and contacted Bob Williams, an employee of DeSoto's Des Plaines, Illinois facility, who informed him that Glenn Workman was responsible for the sale of this equipment. Williams arranged for Clark to meet Workman at the Des Plaines plant. Clark and Workman discussed available equipment at the Jackson plant. Clark secured the list of the eight plastic molding machines.

Clark sent a letter to Donald Eggli, general manager of Burwood, a potential buyer, on December 5, 1975 describing four of the eight machines which had been included on the DeSoto list, but made no mention of DeSoto or the location of the machines. The letter quoted a $135,000 selling price for the 1500-ton Farrell. On December 15, 1975, Clark called Workman and asked if he, and perhaps another person, could accompany Workman to the Jackson plant on Wednesday, December 17 in order to view the equipment. Workman agreed. On December 17, Fredrick Kohler and several other Burwood representatives met Clark at O'Hare Field. Until that time the intended destination was undisclosed. They all flew to Jackson with Workman. Clark paid for his own and the Burwood group's transportation. In Jackson, they met plant manager Krock, who gave them a tour of the plant. Workman did not accompany them. After inspecting the 1500-ton Farrell, the Burwood group told Clark that they were interested in its purchase, but first had to discuss the matter with Eggli.

Clark thereafter told Workman that Burwood expressed an interest in purchasing the Farrell, was presently undecided, and asked for "a first refusal for them until Monday" December 22. Workman responded "Fine. There is no problem in having a first refusal for this period of time. Get back to me by noon on Monday." Clark never informed Workman of the $135,000 price which he quoted to Burwood, nor did he believe it was a matter of Workman's concern. Clark also stated that there was never a discussion with Workman as to a commission payable to Clark by DeSoto in the event of a sale.

On the morning of December 22, 1975, after having returned to Chicago, Clark telephoned Kohler with regard to the Farrell; Kohler told him that Burwood would buy it for $115,000. Clark told Kohler he would call back shortly; then he called Workman's Des Plaines office. Workman was away from his office, so Clark left a message for him seeking to exercise the option. Later, Clark again called Kohler, who said that Burwood had since been offered the Farrell for $95,000. Clark claimed that Burwood could not, because Plastics already owned it. He and Kohler then never agreed to a price and he did not discuss the matter with him further. On December 30, Clark learned that another party, Baje Machinery Company ("Baje"), had purchased the Farrell from DeSoto and resold it to Burwood.

Glenn Workman testified in his deposition, among other things, that Clark visited the Jackson facility. He denied extending a right of first refusal to Clark, or receiving any message from Williams as to Clark's purported option. ¹ He identified a purchase order for the 1500-ton Farrell from Baje, dated December 23, 1975, and a check for $17,000 signed by Baje representative and principal Jack Fridkin. Fridkin had been in the Jackson plant several times, was familiar with the equipment there, and had purchased various machines prior to the sale of the Farrell. When Fridkin came to the plant on December 23rd and learned that the Farrell was still available, he offered to purchase it at the $85,000 list price, which Workman accepted for DeSoto.

Jack Fridkin's deposition testimony indicated that he had met with Workman on December 22 in order to pay a balance on several recently purchased machines. It was then he learned that the Farrell and several other large processing machines were still available. Thereafter he began telephoning various users of large plastic processing equipment, including Burwood, which had previously purchased a large machine from Baje. On December 23, he purchased the Farrell from DeSoto for intended resale to Burwood. His company's checks in the amounts of $17,000 as 20% deposit and, later, $68,000 as payment in full were tendered by him to DeSoto for the purchase.

In Donald Eggli's deposition, he testified that Fridkin called him on December 22, 1975, and asked if he was interested in purchasing some machines, including a 1500-ton Farrell for $95,000. Eggli then called Kohler and told him to withdraw the offer to Clark. On December 23rd, he sent a confirmation order to Fridkin for the Farrell.

On appeal, Plastics has abandoned its primary argument presented to the motion court that the parties entered into a binding contract to purchase the Farrell when Plastics by telephone exercised the putative option that DeSoto is asserted to have granted. It now relies principally on the theory that it entered into a contract with DeSoto to perform brokerage or finder's services. Conceding that no express brokerage or finder's contract terms were agreed to, Plastics asserts that such an agreement arose by implication because, during the course of the transaction, Workman knew that Plastics was an industrial equipment broker and that Burwood was to be the ultimate purchaser of the Farrell. When Clark initiated the transaction with Workman, however, it was clear that Plastics, through Clark, made purchases on its own account for independent sales to third parties. For example, Clark had earlier offered to purchase a granulator from DeSoto outright; no offer to serve in a brokerage capacity was then extended. In the transaction involving the Farrell machine, Plastics manifested no intention to sell the Farrell for a commission. Although Workman was apprised of Plastics' plan to resell it to Burwood, no discussion of any commission for Plastics from DeSoto ever took place. Throughout this transaction Clark never discussed any amount or the requirement of a commission in the event Plastics located a buyer. DeSoto was never made aware of the price Clark had quoted to Burwood; in fact Clark stated that his selling price was of no concern to DeSoto. Significantly, Plastics admits that it advised potential equipment buyers of prices higher than listed by DeSoto so it could secure a commission for itself on any sale. Further, at no time was there a contemplation that Plastics would share in any part of the $85,000 should that amount have been the sales price. It is nowhere...