Industralease Automated & Scientific Equipment Corp. v. R.M.E. Enterprises, Inc.
Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division
58 A.D.2d 482 (1977)
R.M.E. Enterprises (defendant), owner of a picnic grove, had leased two incinerators from Clean Air under a February 1971 agreement, but on the eve of delivery representatives of Clean Air and Industralease (plaintiff) told R.M.E. it would not receive the equipment unless it signed a new lease containing a disclaimer of all express and implied warranties, which R.M.E. signed under pressure right before its operating season began; the incinerators, once installed, never worked. Industralease sued for the roughly $18,000 balance due under the lease, R.M.E. argued the disclaimer was unconscionable, and the jury found Industralease had made and breached express warranties, ruling for R.M.E.; Industralease appealed.
Whether a court may refuse to enforce a contract clause where there is evidence of a gross inequality of bargaining power between the parties.