Princess Cruises, Inc. v. General Electric Co.

Princess Cruises, Inc. (Princess) (plaintiff) scheduled one of its ships for inspection and repairs by General Electric Co. (GE) (defendant). Princess sent GE a purchase order that included a contract price, terms and conditions, and warranties. GE sent a final price quotation (the quote), which explicitly stated that the price was for specified “engineering services.” Though some goods were to be provided, many of the goods required for GE to do its work were already onboard. The quote included a different price, terms and conditions, and excluded all warranties. The quote restricted GE’s liability to the contract price and excluded recovery of consequential damages or lost profits. Princess gave GE permission to start work and paid in full. Princess later discovered that GE did not clean the rotor properly, which damaged the ship. Princess sued for negligence, breach of contract, and breach of warranties. GE was granted summary judgment on the negligence claim. GE’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on the remaining claims was denied. The jury returned a verdict in Princess’s favor for over $4.5 million, based on the judge’s instruction that implied warranties and consequential and incidental damages were available under the principles of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) § 2-207. GE renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law, seeking to have the award of incidental and consequential damages vacated, which was denied. GE appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.