Business owners and executives in California routinely enter into contracts with other companies and individuals. It seems almost impossible to avoid these types of agreements in today’s intertwined and complex marketplace, regardless of the industry in which a particular company operates. Whether a sales contract, a non-disclosure agreement or something else, the fact that these business contracts are so commonplace anymore does not by any means negate the importance of how they are structured.
One company in California that is in the agriculture business knows this quite well, or one would expect that to be the case. The company is a supplier of berries to other nurseries, some of which are located in other states. As explained by Capital Press, the California-based nursery has experienced a string of lawsuits filed against it by some of its customers. At least three different nurseries who agreed to purchase strawberries from the California company have initiated legal action against it.
All three of the recent lawsuits were filed on the part of nurseries based in California’s northern neighbor, Oregon. The most recent of these lawsuits alleges that the California company was negligent in what fruit was provided to the Oregon business. The suit asserts both breach of express warranty and breach of contract. The California nursey is accused of essentially supplying a different berry than was contractually promised.
The company in Oregon is seeking damages in excess of $850,000. Some of these damages are based on what the company insists are actual losses they incurred.
