Seattle Flight Service, Inc. v. City of Auburn
| Decision Date | 03 December 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 6372-3-I,6372-3-I |
| Citation | 24 Wn.App. 749,604 P.2d 975 |
| Parties | , 27 UCC Rep.Serv. 1268 SEATTLE FLIGHT SERVICE, INC., a Washington Corporation, Respondent, v. CITY OF AUBURN, a Municipal Corporation of the State of Washington, Appellant, and Standard Oil of California, a Foreign Corporation, Defendant. |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
Foulds, Felker, Burns & Johnson, P. S., George A. Trichak, Seattle, for appellant.
Sweet, Dessault & Neff, John W. Sweet, Seattle, for respondent.
The City of Auburn (City) appeals from a judgment awarding Seattle Flight Service, Inc. damages for breach of an implied warranty of merchantability in the sale of aircraft fuel.
Seattle Flight Service, Inc., which owns and operates aircraft based at the Auburn airport, regularly purchased aircraft fuel from the City, the operator of the only fuel service at the airport. When it was learned that the fuel was contaminated, Seattle Flight Service cleaned the fuel systems of its aircraft at considerable expense. The City appeals from a judgment awarding Seattle Flight Service the cost it incurred in cleaning out the fuel systems.
The City initially contends that the findings of fact are inadequate to support the conclusions of law because there was no finding that it was a merchant.
A merchant is defined in RCW 62A.2-104(1) as "a person who deals in goods of the kind or otherwise by his occupation holds himself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to the practices or goods involved in the transaction . . ." Although the trial court did not enter an express finding that the City was a merchant, it did find that Seattle Flight Service Finding of fact No. 2. Because the uncontroverted evidence shows that the City was in the business of selling aircraft fuel and was, therefore, a merchant, it is unnecessary to remand the case to the trial court. See Chmela v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 88 Wash.2d 385, 561 P.2d 1085 (1977); LaHue v. Keystone Inv. Co., 6 Wash.App. 765, 496 P.2d 343 (1972).
It is next contended that the trial court should have determined whether the contamination in the fuel was latent. In order for Seattle Flight Service to prevail in its action for breach of the warranty of merchantability, it was required to prove:
(1) that a merchant sold goods, (2) which were not "merchantable" at the time of sale, and (3) injury and damages to the plaintiff or his property (4) caused proximately and in fact by the defective nature of the goods, and (5) notice to seller of injury.
J. White & R. Summers, Uniform Commercial Code § 9-6 at 286 (1972); Richards Mfg. Co. v. Gamel, 5 Wash.App. 549, 489 P.2d 366 (1971). Whether a particular defect is patent or latent relates to the affirmative defense of whether the warranty was excluded pursuant to RCW 62A.2-316(3)(b), which provides:
(W)hen the buyer before entering into the contract has examined the goods or the sample or model as fully as he desired or has refused to examine the goods there is no implied warranty with regard to defects which an examination ought in the circumstances to have revealed to him; . . .
See U.C.C. § 2-316, Comment 8. Because the City had the affirmative burden of proving that the warranty was excluded, the absence of findings is tantamount to a finding against the City. See Baillargeon v. Press, 11 Wash.App. 59, 521 P.2d 746 (1974).
The City further contends that the trial court erred in refusing to enter proposed findings that (1) Seattle Flight Service inspected the aircraft fuel prior to each aircraft's flight; (2) Seattle Flight Service was informed of the fuel contamination by the City; (3) despite its knowledge of the fuel contamination, Seattle Flight Service continued to purchase the contaminated fuel for its aircraft; and (4) Seattle Flight Service was a professional buyer of aircraft fuel. We find no merit to this contention. The refusal of the trial court to enter the proposed findings is tantamount to a determination that the City did not sustain its burden of proving the affirmative defenses. Schmitt v. Matthews, 12 Wash.App. 654, 531 P.2d 309 (1975).
Further, the proposed findings are not determinative of the issue of whether the warranty of...
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