MBE Questions Flashcards
A young woman who recently graduated from college landed her dream job teaching kindergarten at the same elementary school she had attended as a child. The young woman’s contract provided that she would be paid $40,000 for the school year, and that she could be fired only for just cause. Days before the young woman was to begin teaching, the school’s principal fired her, without cause, so that he could hire his cousin for the job instead. The young woman submitted her resume to an employment agency, but was so depressed over the loss of her dream job that she turned down a nearby school’s offer for a similar job paying a $30,000 salary, and instead spent the rest of the school year miserably unemployed.
In an action by the young woman against the elementary school for damages, which of the following awards is most likely?
10,000 the difference between her contract price and the salary of the position she was offered. When there is a breach of an employment contract by the employer, the standard measure of the employee’s damages is based on the full contract price. However, a nonbreaching party cannot recover damages that could have been avoided with reasonable effort. If a breaching employer can prove that a comparable job in the same locale was available, the damages against the employer will be reduced by the wages the plaintiff would have received in that comparable job.
An owner and a builder executed a contract providing that the builder was to construct a residence on a specified lot according to plans and specifications. The total contract price was $800,000. No date was included in the contract for completion of the home. After the builder completed 60% of the residence, a flash flood from a nearby river partially eroded the lot but left the construction undamaged. The builder determined that it would cost an additional $1.7 million to repair the lot so that the residence can be constructed according to the plans. Without the additional lot repair work, the residence cannot be constructed at all.
Which of the following states the probable legal consequences of the lot erosion?
The builder will be discharged from his duties under the contract. Modern courts recognize that impracticability due to excessive and unreasonable difficulty or expense is a defense to breach of contract for nonperformance. Since the cost to the builder to perform under the original contract would exceed more than double what he would be paid, he likely would be excused from performance by commercial impracticability.
A ceramics studio contracted with an artist to produce cups and saucers designed by the artist. The artist was an established designer of collectible ceramic dinnerware, and the studio did production work for many artists who created ceramic dinnerware. The price and quantity term of the contract read: “2,000 sets of the cups and saucers at $5 each, payable on delivery.” The contract contained a merger clause.
The studio produced the cups and saucers and delivered them along with a bill for $20,000 (4,000 pieces at $5 per piece). The artist refused to pay more than $10,000 (2,000 sets at $5 per set).
At the trial of the studio’s action against the artist for breach of contract, the studio introduced evidence of an established practice in the studio industry to price cup-and-saucer sets on a per-piece, not a per-set, basis.
Is the studio’s evidence admissible?
Yes, because the usage of trade is offered to give meaning to the contract. The UCC provides that a written contract’s terms may be explained or supplemented by evidence of course of performance, course of dealing, and usage of trade-regardless of whether the writing appears to be ambiguous. Thus, the studio’s evidence will be admissible to give meaning to the terms of the contract.
A toy collector had purchased 10 antique toys over the last several years and had had them restored by an expert in toy restoration. On June 1, the collector sent the 11th antique toy to the expert with a signed note that read: “Here is another toy for you to restore. As with all prior jobs, I will pay $500 for the work, but no more.” On June 4, after receipt of the collector’s June 1 note and the toy, the expert began restoring the toy. On June 6, the collector unexpectedly died. On June 7, unaware of the collector’s death, the expert sent the collector a note that stated that the restoration work had begun on June 4. The following day, the expert learned of the collector’s death.
Does a contract exist that binds the expert and the collector’s estate?
Yes the offer was accepted on June 4th before the person died. Unless the contract says it is accepted by complete performance only, a contract is accepted when the other person begins performance.
A brick mason was hired by a builder under a written one-year contract, at an annual salary of $45,000, with employment to begin on March 1. Because the builder was unable to secure enough building contracts to keep all its employees busy during the season beginning March 1, it notified the brick mason on February 15 that it could not afford to employ him as a mason. At the same time, however, the builder offered to employ the mason, for the same contract period, as a night guard at an annual salary of $25,000. The mason declined the offer and remained unemployed during the year. No employment for brick masons was available in the community during the year, but the mason could have obtained other employment as a day laborer that would have paid up to $25,000 a year.
At the end of the year, in an action against the builder for breach of contract, how much, if anything, is the mason entitled to recover?
45k. In an employment contract when the employer breaches you are entitled the full k price unless there is a comparable job available. Here there was no comparable job available.
The owner of a television agreed to sell it to a neighbor for $250. The neighbor made a down payment of $70, took possession of the television and agreed to pay the outstanding balance in nine equal $20 installments, beginning on June 5, with subsequent installments due on the fifth of each month until the balance was paid in full.
The neighbor’s friend owed her $200. On May 20, the neighbor and her friend entered into an oral agreement whereby the friend agreed to make the nine $20 installment payments to the seller in exchange for the neighbor’s promise to forgive the friend’s $200 debt. On June 7, the seller called the neighbor to ask her where his first $20 installment payment was, and she told him at that time of her agreement with her friend. The friend has made none of the installment payments.
If the seller files suit against the friend demanding payment, who will prevail?
the seller because he was a third party beneficiary of the k between neighbor and friend. Where a delegate’s promise to perform the delegated duty is supported by consideration, there results a third-party beneficiary situation, so that the nondelegating party to the contract can compel performance or bring suit for nonperformance.
A landowner orally agreed to sell 100 acres of land to a buyer for $10,000. As a condition of the sale, the buyer agreed to pay $5,000 of the purchase price to the landowner’s creditor. The buyer’s attorney drafted the contract, which both the landowner and the buyer read before signing. The signed document made no reference to the payment to the landowner’s creditor, and neither party noticed the oversight.
In an action by the creditor against the buyer for $5,000, which of the following facts, if proved, would be most important?
In making a determination as to who would prevail in an action by the creditor against the buyer, the most important fact would be that the omission of any reference to the creditor in the written document was accidental. If there is an agreement between the parties, the agreement is put into writing, and there is a variance between the original agreement and the writing, the writing can be reformed to reflect the intent of the parties. A plaintiff who wants to obtain reformation of a contract must show that there was an antecedent agreement that is not correctly reflected in the writing (e.g., by mistake). These requirements are met here because the writing fails to include a provision that was included in the earlier oral agreement concerning payment of part of the purchase price to the landowner’s creditor.
