Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Thomas

Citations

• 70 Kan. 409
• 78 P. 861
• 1904 Kan. LEXIS 59

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Damages — Direct and Proximate. Damages recoverable upon breach of a contract are only those that are the direct and proximate result of the wrongful act of which complaint is made.</p> <p>2. -- Speculative, Remote, and Contingent. Damages that are speculative, remote or contingent cannot form the basis of a recovery for the breach of a contract.</p> <p>3. -- Certain, Natural, and Proximate. Damages for anticipated profits recoverable upon breach of a contract must be established with a reasonable degree of certainty, must be the natural and proximate consequence of the breach, and be free from conjecture and speculation.</p> <p>4. -- Damages Held too Remote and Contingent. In consideration of money advanced to inaugurate and establish a time-service system for a railway company, T. was orally given the right by the company to sell to its employees required to carry watches of a certain fixed standard 4800 watches of a certain model, bearing a copyrighted trade-mark and meeting a certain standard; and the company agreed to protect upon its books, and collect for T. from the personal earnings of the employees, while in its employ, their orders on the treasurer of the company, payable in monthly instalments of five dollars each, but no assurance was given to T. that the employees would purchase watches of him. They were privileged to buy and carry any watch which would meet the required standard of the time service. The company thereafter refused longer to protect upon its books and collect such orders for T., but not until T. had sold to employees all the watches he had on hand when such arrangement was made. T. was under no legal obligation to purchase additional watches. Held, in an action by T. against the railway company to recover for a breach of contract, where the damages were for loss of profits on watches which T1 claimed he might have sold to the employees, that his claim was too speculative, remote, and contingent.</p>