Goodman v. Dicker
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
169 F.2d 684 (D.C. Cir. 1948)
Goodman (defendant), an Emerson Radio distributor, encouraged Dicker (plaintiff) to apply for a dealer franchise and assured him he would receive the franchise along with an initial order of 30-40 radios; relying on this, Dicker hired salesmen and began soliciting customer orders, but never received any radios, and Goodman later reported the franchise wouldn't happen after all. Dicker sued for breach of contract; the trial court found no actual contract existed but held Goodman was estopped from denying one given Dicker's detrimental reliance, awarding Dicker $1,500 covering both his $1,150 in cash outlays and $350 in anticipated lost profits.
Whether a misrepresentation that induces detrimental reliance by the plaintiff estops the defendant from denying that a contract exists.