Badgett v. Security State Bank

Facts

Plaintiff, Badgett, obtained a loan from Defendant, Security State Bank, to purchase dairy, and, thereafter, enter the dairy business. Five years later, Plaintiff chose to retire from the dairy business. Plaintiff participated in the Dairy Termination Program (DTP), a federally run program that paid dairy produced to refrain from engaging in the dairy business for five years. Plaintiff wanted to submit a bid with DTP to obtain $1,600,000, under the program. Plaintiff spoke with Defendant’s loan officer Joe Cookie, about his interest in participating in DTP. Further, Plaintiff stated he would use the proceeds from the program to pay back his $1,500,000 debt to Defendant. Cooke told Plaintiff he would submit the proposal to Defendant’s loan committee. Subsequently, the loan committee denied the proposal, and Plaintiff submitted an unsuccessful bid to DTP. About a month later, Plaintiff refrained from making payments on the loan owed to Defendant and entered a written agreement with Defendant to satisfy his debt. Thereafter, Plaintiff filed suit on the grounds that Defendant breached the implied duty of good faith and fair dealings when Defendant refused to consider Plaintiff’s proposal to DTP. Likewise, Plaintiff contends that Cooke misrepresented his proposal to the loan committee. Defendant filed a counterclaim to obtain the loan payments and foreclosure. The trial court held for Defendant and dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint. Plaintiff appealed.