Sally Stable owns a stable of racehorses. One of her racehorses, Star, wins a major race, and
Question:
Sally Stable owns a stable of racehorses. One of her racehorses, Star, wins a major race, and Sally plans to hold a community picnic on July 4 to celebrate Star's success. On May 15, she contracts with Ben Barbeque to operate the grill at her picnic for a flat fee of $500. Ben is a well-known figure in the community and is likely to be a crowd favorite. She pays Ben a down payment of $100 to ensure his availability. On May 20, she spends $50 at a local copy p. 803shop producing posters to advertise the event. The posters include the tag line "Enjoy delicious food hot off Ben Barbeque's grill!" Before Sally is able to hang the posters around town, Ben calls her to tell her he will be unable to operate the grill at her event after all, because he has been offered the chance to appear on a popular cooking show on that date. Assume Ben has materially and totally breached his contract with Sally.
Sally is considering going to small claims court to get a court order compelling Ben to operate the grill at her picnic as agreed. What kind of remedy would this be? Would the court be likely to issue such an order?
Assume Sally is able to find another local celebrity, Hayley Ham, to operate the grill at her picnic for $750. Sally reprints the posters substituting Hayley's name for Ben's at a cost of $50, posts them around town, and holds a successful event. If Sally were to sue Ben for damages, what would her expectation losses be?
Courts sometimes seek to protect reliance or restitution interests. What are Sally's reliance losses under the facts in Question (b)? Her restitution losses? How do her reliance and restitution losses relate to her expectation losses?