Reliance Cooperage Corp. v. Treat

Reliance Cooperage Corporation (Reliance) (plaintiff) contracted with A.R. Treat (defendant) for Treat to deliver 300,000 barrel staves by December 31, 1950, at $450 per thousand. In August 1950 Treat told Reliance he was repudiating the deal, but Reliance wrote back that it still expected performance and would hold him to the contract. Treat never delivered any staves. At trial, the market price for staves on the delivery deadline exceeded the contract price. The trial court refused to instruct the jury that Reliance could recover the difference between contract and market price, instead telling the jury Reliance had a duty to mitigate by buying staves elsewhere; the jury awarded Reliance only $500, and Reliance appealed.