Breach of Contract

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Dual-Temp of Illinois, Inc. v. Hench Control, Inc. et al

Case No.: 15-2659

Officials: FLAUM, EASTERBROOK, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Breach of Contract

Plaintiff supply of faulty refrigerator amounted to breach of contract.

“However, defendants seem to confuse installation with startup. Installation occurred from the end of March through April 2007. After installation, the RCS still had to be connected to the refrigeration system through startup. Defendants’ installation technician assisted with startup in May 2007. The communication failures also began in May 2007, shortly after startup, and about one month after installation. Additionally, the RCS had to be connected to the refrigeration system through startup in order to communicate with the refrigeration system. Thus, the communication failures could not have commenced prior to startup. Finally, even if we assume for the sake of argument that the Hench RCS did operate properly for some time after startup, there is sufficient circumstantial evidence, as discussed above, for a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the communication failures were caused by a defect in the Hench RCS. Therefore, the district court properly concluded that defendants breached the contract.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.