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    SmartBrief enables case brief popups that define Key Terms, Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises used in this case.

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    Contracts Keyed to Marshall

    View this case in different Casebooks
    Contracts Keyed to DawsonContracts Keyed to FarnsworthContracts Keyed to EpsteinContracts Keyed to SummersContracts Keyed to MarshallContracts Keyed to Barnett

    Groves v. John Wunder Co.

    Citation:

    205 Minn. 163 (1939)
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    Facts

    Under the contract defendant got the Groves screening plant. The transfer thereof and the right to remove the sand and gravel made the consideration moving from Groves to defendant, except that defendant incidentally got rid of Groves as a competitor. On defendant’s part it paid Groves $105,000. So that from the outset, on Groves’ part the contract was executed except for defendant’s right to continue using the property for the stated term. Defendant breached the contract deliberately. It removed from the premises only the richest and best of the gravel and wholly failed, according to the findings, to perform and comply with the terms, conditions, and provisions of said lease with respect to the condition in which the surface of the demised premises was required to be left. Defendant surrendered the premises, not substantially at the grade required by the contract nor at any uniform grade. Instead, the ground was broken, rugged, and uneven. Plaintiff sues as assignee and successor in right of Groves. 

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    Case Quiz

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    Q.1 - In awarding cost-of-completion damages in Groves, the court rejected a purely economic approach. Which theoretical model of contract enforcement does the court most closely reflect?
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    Correct! The Groves majority aligns with corrective justice theory, treating breach not merely as an economic event but as a wrong that must be redressed by restoring the agreed-upon performance, irrespective of efficiency losses. This reflects a rights-based, deontological view of contract enforcement.
    Incorrect. B is incorrect because the court rejected efficiency in favor of full performance.
    Incorrect. C is incorrect as no communal or relational norms governed the remedy.
    Incorrect. D is incorrect; reliance losses were not the remedy sought or granted.
    Q.2 - If the court had instead followed the dissent's reasoning, which Restatement (Second) of Contracts principle would most likely have supported awarding diminution in value rather than cost of completion?
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    Incorrect. A is incorrect as no condition precedent was at issue.
    Correct! The dissent’s logic aligns with § 348(2)(b), which provides that if cost of completion is grossly disproportionate to the benefit gained, damages should be limited to diminution in market value. This balances economic reasonableness with the performance expectation.
    Incorrect. C is incorrect since there was no external impracticability excusing performance.
    Incorrect. D is incorrect because this case did not involve consequential damages or their foreseeability.
    Q.3 - Which of the following jurisprudential critiques would most forcefully challenge the majority’s reasoning in Groves on the basis of legal realism?
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    Incorrect. A is incorrect; equitable relief was not granted, and morality did not override logic per se.
    Incorrect. B is incorrect because the court’s holding was not rooted in autonomy rhetoric but contract enforcement.
    Correct! Legal realists would argue that the court’s refusal to apply a restitution-based or market-aligned measure represented a rigid formalism, ignoring how parties actually behave in the commercial world. This critique highlights the court's failure to ground remedies in practical business dynamics.
    Incorrect. D is incorrect; the assignee stood in the same legal position as the original party — no novation argument applied.

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    Topic Resources

    ™ CaseCast

    Melissa A. Hale

    ProfessorMelissa A. Hale

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    Damages

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    Intro to Damages and Expectation Damages

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