RM Hollingshead Corporation v. United States, 50123.
Citation | 111 F. Supp. 285,124 Ct. Cl. 681 |
Decision Date | 07 April 1953 |
Docket Number | No. 50123.,50123. |
Parties | R. M. HOLLINGSHEAD CORPORATION v. UNITED STATES. |
Court | Court of Federal Claims |
Scott P. Crampton, Washington, D. C., for plaintiff. William J. Demick, Washington, D. C., on the brief.
Gilbert E. Andrews, Washington, D. C., with whom was Asst. Atty. Gen. Warren E. Burger, for defendant.
Before JONES, Chief Judge, and MADDEN, HOWELL, WHITAKER and LITTLETON, Judges.
The Government has made a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's petition on the ground that it fails to state a cause of action. We summarize the allegations of the petition. The plaintiff was on February 3, 1948, awarded a contract by the United States Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency, for the supply of some 108,000 gallons of 25 percent DDT Concentrate in 5-gallon metal drums. The contract contained the following provisions:
After 22,815 gallons of the DDT Concentrate had been delivered by the plaintiff to the Government it was found that the liquid, after being stored for a period of time, lost its clear color. The Government thereupon insisted that the plaintiff had failed to comply with the contract, refused to pay the plaintiff $7,605 which would otherwise have been due, and demanded repayment of $20,823.15 already paid to the plaintiff. The plaintiff thereupon delivered a certified check for $20,000 to the General Accounting Office to be held in escrow pending the disposition of the plaintiff's claim. The claim was decided adversely to the plaintiff and the check was, presumably, cashed. The Government credited the plaintiff with $1,150, the amount realized from the resale of the allegedly defective DDT. The plaintiff sues for the contract price of the DDT, $28,428.15. It alleges that the DDT Concentrate was properly prepared.
At the time the contract here involved was made, DDT Concentrate was a relatively new product, and neither the plaintiff nor the Government knew that it was impossible to store DDT Concentrate in the metal containers prescribed in the contract without a resulting loss of its clear color. After its experience with this contract, the Government has not bought any DDT Concentrate to be shipped in metal containers. It acquires the constituents of the mixture...
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...138 Ct.Cl. 420, 150 F.Supp. 835 (1957), cert. denied, 355 U.S. 941, 78 S.Ct. 429, 2 L.Ed.2d 421 (1958); R.M. Hollingshead Corp. v. United States, 124 Ct.Cl. 681, 111 F.Supp. 285 (1953). But since, on the Court's theory, such a suit is not a suit for money damages but rather for specific rel......
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...desired result for "* * * he has no right to make a useless thing and charge the customer for it." R. M. Hollingshead Corp. v. United States, 111 F.Supp. 285, 286, 124 Ct.Cl. 681, 683 (1953). Cf., Flippin Materials Co. v. United States, 312 F.2d 408, 160 Ct.Cl. 357 (1963). If faulty specifi......
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...to neither party. Footnote omitted. 338 F.2d at 112, 167 Ct.Cl. at 769. The decision of this court in R. M. Hollingshead Corp. v. United States, 111 F.Supp. 285, 124 Ct.Cl. 681 (1953), supports the plaintiff's claim in the instant case. There a contract was made for the production of DDT co......
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