Martin v. Little, Brown
& Co.
Superior Court of
304 Pa.Super. 424, 450 A.2d
984.
Facts: The plaintiff sent a letter to the defendant telling
them that one of their books had been plagiarized. When the defendant sued the third party
infringer, the plaintiff demanded compensation for his help. The defendant sent him $200, but he sued for
one-third of the defendant’s recovery in the infringement suit and for intentional
infliction of mental distress based on the company’s threat to countersue him. The trial court ruled that there had been no contract
made and that the plaintiff could not recover for quantum meruit because he had
acted as a “volunteer”. The trial court
dismissed the intentional infliction of mental distress claim.
Issue: Does the law require the defendant to make restitution
for the benefit conferred by the plaintiff even though it was not asked for
(either on a contract or quasi-contract theory)?[1]
Rule: In order to construe an implied contract from a
course of conduct between two parties, an intention to pay on the part of the alleged
promisee must be reasonably inferable[2]. In the absence of a contract, restitution is
only available when someone has been “unjustly enriched at the expense of
another”.[3] Volunteers generally have no right to restitution.
Analysis: The court can find nothing in the course of conduct
between the parties (namely, their letters back and forth) that suggests that
the plaintiff demanded money or that the defendant expressed a willingness or
expectation to pay for the plaintiff’s service.
Therefore, the court rules that there was no contract in this case.
Furthermore, the court finds
that the plaintiff was a volunteer.
Therefore, the defendant book company may have been enriched, but not
unjustly. The plaintiff’s benefit
was given more in the nature of a gift.
Finally, the court says that
the threat of a counterclaim cannot be construed as intentional infliction of
mental distress because, among other reasons, the plaintiff took advantage of
the legal system too and what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Conclusion: The court upholds the trial court’s decision to
dismiss the complaint in full.
[1] See FARNSWORTH ON CONTRACTS §2.20 at 173 (1998).
[2] Quick
example: when you walk into a barber shop and say “a little off the top, please”,
it is implied, though not stated, that you’re going to pay for the work
that will be done, even though there is no explicit contract or promise. If you run out of the barber shop without
paying (or out of a restaurant, for another example) the barber can probably
sue to get restitution for quantum meruit, in particular, the value of the
haircut.
[3] See Restatement of Restitution §1 (1937) and FARNSWORTH ON CONTRACTS § 2.20 at 172 (1998).