Quote:
Originally Posted by oldbutstillgoing
Seller of cabinets recommend an installer.
Installer fucked it up,
Does seller have any legal exposure or responsibly to buyer because we relied upon sellers recommendation of an installer ?
Can we seek legal remedy from seller and /or installer for direct costs IE: replacement of Damaged cabinets and indirect costs IE: New countertops required due to fucked up install and removal and reinstall of replacement cabinets and countertops?
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First, the common law does not make a distinction between "direct" and "indirect" costs as you've labeled them. In general, both of these damage types would be considered economic damages (a type of compensatory damage), which are recoverable if an alleged tortfeasor is found liable for a tortious act.
If you're not sure which party of a list to sue, you file an interpleader to force them to litigate to find out who the winner is you get to sue. But in this case, we already know. See below.
Against the installer, this is a basic contract law claim. It's proper.
Against the manufacturer, you wouldn't be able to show intent, so intentional torts are all out. You probably wouldn't be able to show reasonable foreseeability (i.e., required to show duty) or breach under the Learned Hand test, so negligence is out. Unless the installer is an employee of the manufacturer, you wont be able to show Respondeat Superior. Product defect or breach of warranty requires injury or insufficiency for a product's intended purpose, respectively, which you cannot show. I don't think you'd have a contract with the manufacturer regarding the installation, so nope. You can't really expect a favorable outcome from suing the manufacturer.
I didn't quite understand the fact pattern. But you may be able to sue the manufacturer to send the correct cabinets if they made the wrong cabinets for the blueprint you ordered. But I doubt you'd have to litigate this. A phone call should fix this.
It sounds like everything that went wrong was at the installation, not the manufacture.
So to answer your question in the first post:
1. No.
2. Yes.
3. So you want him to pay for the countertops you've already bought. And new countertops for you? In short, you want to make a profit by him paying for both the old cabinets and new cabinets? No no no.
You're entitled to compensatory damages, but under Texas CPRC §41.003, it looks like you can't get exemplary/punitive damages. So no. He is only liable to fix his bad installation. So basically he pays for whatever he has to buy to fix the installation and pays for the shoddy work.
Another question
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