Hawkins v. McGee

146 A. 641 (1929)

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Hawkins v. McGee

New Hampshire Supreme Court
146 A. 641 (1929)

  • Written by Megan Petersen, JD
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Facts

A burn left minor George Hawkins (plaintiff) with scar tissue on his right hand. Surgeon Edward McGee (defendant) operated on Hawkins’s hand, replacing the scar tissue with a skin graft from Hawkins’s chest. The graft left Hawkins with a palm that grew chest hair. Hawkins sued McGee, seeking damages for an alleged breach of warranty. Hawkins and his father claimed that McGee had been seeking to experiment with skin grafting and had approached Hawkins’s father multiple times to convince him to consent to the operation. They further claimed that when seeking such consent, McGee said, “I will guarantee to make the hand a hundred per cent perfect hand or a hundred per cent good hand.” McGee argued that even if he said such words, no contractual warranty arose because no reasonable man would understand the words as creating a contract. The trial judge determined that the jury should decide whether a contractual warranty existed and, if so, the appropriate damages for its breach. The judge instructed the jury that if it found a contractual warranty existed, then it should award Hawkins damages based on (1) his pain and suffering from the operation and (2) the worsened condition of his hand in relation to its preoperation state. The jury held that a contractual warranty existed and awarded damages to Hawkins. However, the trial judge set aside the verdict on the basis that the damages award was excessive. Hawkins appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Branch, J.)

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Casebooks

Contracts

Key Terms

  • Expectation DamagesCompensatory damages in a contract action, which place the injured party in the same position he would have been in had he received the full benefit for which he contracted.

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