Procedural Posture

Plaintiff customer appealed the judgment of the Sixth Judicial District (California), which found in favor of the customer in his breach of contract action against defendant telegraph company but only awarded the customer the cost of his dispatch. The trial court also denied the customer’s motion for a new trial.

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Overview

The customer had a debt on a debtor in another town. The customer contracted with the telegraph company for the conveyance of a telegraphic message to his agent to take out an attachment against the debtor. The telegraph company failed to send the message and failed to inform the customer until the next day. Other attachments had been issued at the suit of other creditors against the debtor, and the customer lost his debt. In the customer’s breach of contract action against the telegraph company, the trial court found in favor of the customer but only awarded the cost of the dispatch. On appeal, the court reversed and remanded for a new trial. The court held that in a new trial, the customer could provide evidence that if the message had been delivered, the customer’s agent could have made out papers to have the writ issued and the customer’s writ would have been entitled to precedence over most of the other creditors’ attachments. The customer had a right to have his message sent according to contract, and it was better left to a jury rather than the trial court to determine the amount of damages.

Outcome

The court reversed the trial court’s judgment that awarded the customer the cost of the dispatch in his breach of contract action against the telegraph company and that denied the customer a new trial. The court remanded the cause for a new trial.