Hawkins v. McGee
New Hampshire Supreme Court
146 A. 641 (1929)
- Written by Megan Petersen, JD
Facts
A burn left child George Hawkins (plaintiff) with scar tissue on his right hand. Nine years later, 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 grafts and multiple times solicited Hawkins’s father’s 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 warranty existed and, if so, the appropriate damages for its breach. The judge instructed the jury that any damages should be based on (1) Hawkins’s pain and suffering from the operation and (2) the worsened condition of Hawkins’s hand in relation to its preoperation state. The jury held that a warranty existed and awarded $3,000 in damages. The trial judge deemed the damages excessive. When Hawkins refused to remit the portion exceeding $500, the judge set aside the verdict. Hawkins appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Branch, J.)
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