C&K Engineering Contractors v. Amber Steel Co.

23 Cal.3d 1 (1978)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

C&K (P) was a general contractor and solicited bids from Amber (D) and other subcontractors for the installation of reinforcing steel in the construction of a water waste plant. P included D’s bid in the master bid, which was accepted by the sanitation district. D then refused to perform in accordance with its bid and P sued to recover $102,660 in damages. P claims that D submitted a written bid of $139,511 for the work and D gave a subsequent verbal promise that the work would be performed for the bid price. P contends that he reasonably relied on D’s bid and promise in submitting the master bid and D knew or should have known that P would submit a master bid based upon D’s bid. D refused to perform, and P claims he spent $242,171 to perform the reinforcing steel work and thus seeks damages for the difference. P claimed that injustice could be avoided only by enforcement of D’s promise to perform. D contends that its bid was the result of an honest mistake and P knew of the mistake but failed to notify D or to permit D to reversed is bid as is customary and thus P’s conduct should bar it from recovering any damages. D demanded a jury trial. The trial court deemed the case to be one of equity and denied that request but empaneled an advisory jury to consider the issue of P’s reliance on D’s promise. The jury found that P reasonably relied to its detriment on D’s bid. P got the judgment and D appealed.