You Don’t Bring Me Flowers Anymore
Olivia is a florist who specializes in roses.
She has a five-year written contract with Juan to sell him as many roses as he needs for his wedding chapel. Over the past three years, Olivia sold Juan between 4,000 and 5,000 roses annually. With three years remaining on the contract, Juan notified Olivia that he cannot continue to buy roses from her because of serious budget concerns. Olivia was selling the roses to Juan for $2.00 each, so her gross annual income on the contract was from $8,000 - $10,000.
Last month Ann (a new customer) emailed Olivia an order for “1,000 white stems” to decorate an event hall. The order did not specifying a particular price or flower. Ann assumed that Olivia would send roses, her specialty. Olivia instead sent orchids, the only “white stems” available at the time.
When Ann received the white orchids, she was surprised. Since Ann had no time to inquire about getting roses (as she expected), she used the orchids for the event.
Olivia subsequently billed Ann $5 each for the orchids, a price more than twice that of roses. Ann refused to pay the higher amount.
1. What contract rights and remedies, if any, does Olivia have against Juan?
2. What contract rights and remedies, if any, does Olivia have against Ann?
3. What defenses, if any, do Juan and Ann have?