Cope v. Bangor & Portland Traction Co.

Citations

• 39 Pa. Super. 134
• 1909 Pa. Super. LEXIS 452

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Breach of contract — Conflicting evidence — Question for jury.</p> <p>1. In an action to recover damages for the breach of a construction contract, the case is for the jury and a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff will be sustained, where the evidence for the plaintiff, although contradicted, tends to show that the plaintiff began performance of the contract in good faith, but was stopped by the defendant in its execution, and that after finding that the defendant did not intend to allow him to proceed, he availed himself of the right to declare the contract rescinded and sue for the damages occasioned by its breach. In such a case it is proper to permit an employee of the plaintiff to testify that he went upon the ground on the day fixed by the contract for the commencement of the work, and under the instruction of defendant’s engineer helped to stake off the place and to lay pipe and tile, and was thus engaged for several hours.</p> <p>Contract — Breach of contract — Measure of damages — Loss of profits.</p> <p>2. Damages, may be recovered for loss of profits caused by a breach of contract; and they are never excluded simply because they are profits. If it reasonably appear that profits would have been made had the terms of the contract been observed, and that their loss necessarily followed its breach, they may be recovered as damages if the evidence is sufficiently certain and definite to warrant the jury in estimating their extent.</p> <p>3. In an action for a breach of a construction contract the plaintiff may show the quantity of the various kinds of the material and labor that would be required to do the work; also the contracts which he had made for the purchase of material, and also the cost of excavation and removal of dirt under certain favorable arrangements which he had made. He will not be confined to proof of formally executed contracts for labor or material which would have bound him whether the work went on or not.</p>