Bert Allen Toyota, Inc. v. Grasz
Mississippi Court of Appeals
909 So. 2d 763 (2005)
Grasz (plaintiff) agreed to buy a new truck from Bert Allen Toyota (BAT) (defendant) for $16,951 minus a $1,000 rebate, plus tax and title. A computer error at the dealership produced a contract listing the total price as $15,017.50 instead of the correct $17,017.50, an error that appeared in four places on the paperwork and was even circled with "everything" written beside it by the sales manager. BAT's sales manager knew the computer had made similar mistakes before but never double-checked the math. BAT only discovered the error while preparing final paperwork after the truck arrived, and it then refused to honor the lower price. Grasz sued for breach of contract and won specific performance at trial; BAT appealed, invoking unilateral mistake.
Whether a contract may be rescinded for unilateral mistake when the mistake was so fundamental there was no meeting of the minds, there was no gross negligence by the party seeking rescission, no intervening rights have accrued, the parties can still be restored to the status quo, and the mistake was not induced by that party's own negligence.