Bakke v. Magi-Touch Carpet One Floor & Home, Inc.
Case Details
- Judge(s)
- Jensen, Jon J.
- Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
- Published
- Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
- appeal
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Claim Types
Outcome
The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment dismissing negligence claims against Magi-Touch based on the independent contractor doctrine, but reversed and remanded the denial of Bakke's motion to amend her complaint to assert a breach of contract claim for the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.
Excerpt
An employer of an independent contractor generally is not liable for the negligence of the independent contractor. North Dakota law recognizes an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose in construction contracts. A contracting party cannot escape its liability on the contract by merely assigning its duties and rights under the contract to a third party. The remedy for fraud is rescission of the contract and requires returning the parties back to their original positions. Deceit is not an action dependent on a contract it is a tort cause of action, and allows recovery of damages upon proof of an affirmative misrepresentation or suppression of material facts. When a party requests leave to amend without requesting additional discovery and a summary judgment motion has been docketed, the proposed amendment must be both theoretically viable and solidly grounded in the record. The measure of damages for breach of contract is the amount which will compensate the injured person for the loss which fulfillment of the contract would have prevented or the breach of the contract now requires.
What This Ruling Means
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
More Rulings in This Case
Other orders and opinions in Bakke from the same court.
Similar Rulings
An employer of an independent contractor generally is not liable for the negligence of the independent contractor. North Dakota law recognizes an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose in construction contracts. A contracting party cannot escape its liability on the contract by merely assigning its duties and rights under the contract to a third party. The remedy for fraud is rescission of the contract and requires returning the parties back to their original positions. Deceit is not an action dependent on a contract it is a tort cause of action, and allows recovery of damages upon proof of an affirmative misrepresentation or suppression of material facts. When a party requests leave to amend without requesting additional discovery and a summary judgment motion has been docketed, the proposed amendment must be both theoretically viable and solidly grounded in the record. The measure of damages for breach of contract is the amount which will compensate the injured person for the loss which fulfillment of the contract would have prevented or the breach of the contract now requires.
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