Effects of Contracts - Damages; Quasi-Contractual Recovery

Question 1

Three distinct circumstances where Quasi-contractual Recovery is appropriate

Answer 1

(a) Negotiorum Gestio—La. Civ. Code art. 2292: “There is a management of affairs when a person, the manager, acts without authority to protect the interests of another, the owner, in the reasonable belief that the owner would approve of the action if made aware of the circumstances.”
i. Hypo—A goes out of town on vacation. While A is away, a hurricane bears down on the city. A’s neighbor, B, attempts to contact A without success. B then spends money to shutter A’s windows and doors and sandbag the property. To what recovery, if any, is B entitled? See La. Civ. Code arts. 2292–2297.
(b) Payment of Thing Not Owed—La. Civ. Code art. 2299: “A person who has received a payment or a thing not owed to him is bound to restore it to the person from whom he received it.”
i. Hypo—A receives a check in the mail from C that was intended for B. Is A bound to repay the amount to C? Why or why not? See La. Civ. Code arts. 2299-2305.
ii. Hypo—Bell worked as a nurse at St. Francis Medical Center. The hospital determined that she was overpaid due to an error in the payroll department. Bell was suspended for two pays and requested to repay the hospital within two weeks. Bell sued the hospital and its employees for defamation. The hospital counterclaimed for the amount of overpayment. Is the hospital entitled to overpayment? Why or why not? Note: this hypothetical is based on Bell v. Rogers, p. 471. This case was not assigned but you may wish to review it as an example.

(c) Enrichment Without Cause—La. Civ. Code art. 2298: “A person who has been enriched without cause at the expense of another is bound to compensate that person. The term ‘without cause’ is used in this context to exclude cases in which the enrichment results from a valid juridical act or the law. The remedy declared here is subsidiary and shall not be available if the law provides another remedy for the impoverishment or declares a contrary rule. The amount of compensation due is measured by the extent to which one has been enriched or the other has been impoverished, whichever is less. The extent of the enrichment or impoverishment is measured as of the time the suit is brought or, according to the circumstances, as of the time the judgment is rendered.”