Harwell Enterprises, Inc. v. Stevens
Harwell Enterprises, Inc. v. Stevens
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff’s first assignment of error is directed to the overruling of its motion for judgment on the pleadings. Plaintiff earnestly contends that a demurrer interposed by defendant on 11 September 1969 and overruled was a sham and frivolous pleading, for the sole purpose of delaying the plaintiff in procuring judgment. The ground stated for the demurrer was that the complaint failed to state a cause of action because it does not allege a written contract signed by defendant as required by G.S. 25-2-201. We hold that the raising of the question by defendant by demurrer in this case was not clearly and palpably frivolous and interposed only for the purpose of delay. This assignment of error is overruled.
Plaintiff next contends that the granting of defendant’s motion at the close of plaintiff’s evidence constituted reversible error. We do not agree. Plaintiff’s evidence, in our judgment, is not sufficient to support a finding that a valid, enforceable contract existed between plaintiff and defendant. Plaintiff’s evidence was that on 17 April 1968, a conversation was had between plaintiff’s general manager, Mr. Andrew Furyk, and defendant; that on 18 April 1968, plaintiff sent defendant a “confirmed written purchase order signed by Mr. Furyk which confirmed the verbal purchase order”. The president of plaintiff testified: “I say that the basis of our contract with Stevens was that on or about the 18th of April 1968, Stevens entered into an agreement and contracted with our company whereby he agreed to ‘design, fabricate, functionally test and deliver an automatic silk screen machine to specifications as written by Harwell Enterprises, Inc., dated April 18, 1968, supplemented by specifications received from Arrow Metal Products (via tele
The evidence does not meet the test set out in Thompson-McLean, Inc. v. Campbell, 261 N.C. 310, 314, 134 S.E. 2d 671 (1964), where the Court said:
“ ‘To constitute a valid contract the parties must assent to the same thing in the same sense, and their minds must meet as to all the terms. If any portion of the proposed terms are not settled, there is no agreement.’ Goeckel v. Stokely, 236 N.C. 604, 73 S.E. 2d 618. ‘Consequently, the acceptance of a proposition to make a contract, the terms of which are to be subsequently fixed, does not constitute a binding obligation.’ 1 Elliott on Contracts, § 175; Croom v. Lumber Co., 182 N.C. 217, 108 S.E. 735.”
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.