White Consolidated Industries, Inc. v. McGill Manufacturing Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
165 F.3d 1185 (1999)

- Written by Douglas Halasz, JD
Facts
McGill Manufacturing Co. Inc. (McGill) (defendant) mailed White Consolidated Industries, Inc. (Frigidaire) (plaintiff), a subsidiary of Frigidaire Company, a quote for certain equipment, which contained sufficiently definite terms and indicated that Frigidaire could immediately accept the offer. In response, Frigidaire sent McGill a purchase order that conditioned its acceptance on McGill’s assent to every term in the purchase order, which contained additional or different terms, including certain warranties, pricing, and a merger clause. McGill’s sales representative signed the purchase order but corrected the pricing. Thereafter, McGill shipped the equipment to Frigidaire, and Frigidaire accepted and paid for the equipment. A dispute subsequently arose between the parties, and Frigidaire sued McGill for breach of contract. Frigidaire moved for partial summary judgment as to the interpretation of the contract and argued that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because its purchase order exclusively set forth the terms of the parties’ contract. The district court disagreed, denied Frigidaire’s motion, and held that this was a “battle of the forms” case within the meaning of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) § 2-207. A jury ruled in McGill’s favor. Frigidaire appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (McMillian, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 814,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.