In action seeking declaration that plaintiff was excused from its obligation to purchase eggs under contract it had with defendant, Dist. Ct. did not err in granting summary judgment on defendant's counterclaim seeking damages for plaintiff's repudiation of contract based on defendant's theory of damages under Iowa Commercial Code, section 554.2706 that pertained to resale of eggs that plaintiff should have purchased from defendant, where defendant sold eggs at price that was lower than what defendant would have received under contract. Ct. rejected plaintiff's contention that defendant could not use resale remedy, where eggs at issue under contract never came into existence, since: (1) Iowa Code section 554.2706(2) explicitly makes resale remedy available to sellers, even when goods had not come into existence at time of breach; and (2) question as to whether defendant acted in commercially reasonable manner following plaintiff's repudiation of contract was resolved in defendant's favor by jury, and plaintiff had not otherwise challenged jury's finding on appeal. Also, plaintiff's argument that jury lacked evidence to calculate defendant's damages based on market price was waived, where plaintiff failed to bring timely post-verdict motion challenging jury's verdict. Too, Dist. Ct. erred in denying defendant's request for pre-judgment interest at rate set forth in contract, plus attorney's fees, even though Dist. Ct. determined that interest rate set forth in contract violated Iowa's usury law, where Business Credit Exception under Iowa Code section 535.2(2)(a)(5) to usury law applied to interest rates set forth in instant contract that essentially involved extension of credit arising out of plaintiff's failure to pay amounts set forth in invoices.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Damages