Breaking a contract for spite
August 26, 2008
I will see Judge Roger W. Titus’ Johnny Cash analogy and raise him Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr.’s “Seinfeld” citation.
Harrell, writing for the Court of Appeals in its Clancy v. King decision released today, references dialogue from an episode titled “The Wig Master.” In one scene, Jerry unsuccessfully attempts to return a jacket he bought at a men’s store “for spite” because he does not like the salesman who sold it to him. (“Seinfeld” fans will know the salesman as the pony-tailed Craig, who keeps promising Elaine the new shipment of Nicole Miller dresses will be arriving soon.)
Calling Jerry an “unlikely legal illustrator,” Harrell found the incident “epitomized the duty of good faith in contract.” Jerry could only return the jacket if it did not fit or he did not like it, Harrell wrote in footnote 27.
“He may not return the jacket, however, for the sole purpose of denying to the other party the value of the contract,” the judge wrote.
No word yet, however, as to whether or not a handshake can be considered a pact and what penalty is appropriate for double-dippers.
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
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