The Superior Court of Los Angeles County (California)

[Anne E. Tyner]

Procedural Posture: California employer defense law firm

Appellant employee filed an action for breach of contract against respondent employer. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County (California) entered a judgment limiting the amount of the employee's recovery, deducting from the guaranteed amount under the contract the sum that the employee received for other services rendered. The trial court also granted the employer's motion for a new trial. The employee appealed.

Overview

The employee, an actress, entered into a contract with the employer and agreed to act in the production of two films. The employee was to have received a guaranteed advance on gross distribution receipts and a certain additional sum for each picture. The second picture was not made, and the employee never received notice of its starting date, nor was anything ever paid her for that picture. The employee claimed that she was ready, able, and willing to perform her part of the contract. The employee received a sum for work performed for radio engagements during the month that she could have begun work on the second film. The court found that the trial court erred in granting the employer's motion for a new trial because the evidence as a whole would have been insufficient as a matter of law to support a judgment in favor of the employer. The employer was not excused from performing a condition precedent, the giving of notice to the employee regarding the starting date of the second picture. The court held that it was proper to offset against the amount guaranteed under the contract the sum received in radio engagements, because the work was not inferior to the work contracted for.

Outcome

The order granting the employer's motion for a new trial was reversed, and the original judgment was affirmed.