Parker vs. Twentieth-Century Fox Corp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Parker vs. Twentieth-Century Fox Corp - Essay Example Facts The plaintiff is well known as an actress and in the contract signed by the defendant and the plaintiff; at times she is referred to as the artist. According to the contract as of the 6th of August 1965, she was meant to play female lead role in the contemplated production of Bloomer Girl, a movie by the defendant. The contract provided that the plaintiff would be paid a guaranteed minimum compensation of $53,571.42 every week for the fourteen weeks commencing the 23rd of May 1965. The total pay amounted to seventy five thousand dollars. Before May of 1966, the defendant decided against the picture’s production and in a letter dated 4th April 1966 notified the plaintiff of the very same decision telling her that it would not be in compliance with their earlier obligations under the written contract (Blond 25). In the same letter, the defendant, with a professed purpose meant to â€Å"avoid any damage† to the plaintiff, instead gave the plaintiff the leading actres s role in yet another film. This film was tentatively titled â€Å"Big Country, Big Man†, referred to hereafter as â€Å"Big Country†. The defendant offered an identical compensation, as they did with thirty-one of the other thirty-four articles or provisions of the original contract. However, Bloomer Girl, as compared to Big Country, was a Western type, dramatic movie, not a musical like the earlier Bloomer Girl. Bloomer Girl was to have been shot in California while Big Country’s location was in Australia. In addition, other certain terms in the contract proffered varied from the contract drawn up initially. The plaintiff was given 1 week to accept the offer, which she failed to do until the offer elapsed. The plaintiff hereby commenced the court case seeking the agreed guaranteed compensation’s recovery (Mann and Barry 45). The complaint set two causes of action forth. Firstly, she wanted monetary compensation due under the previous contract. Secondly, she wanted to sue for damages that resulted from a breach of contract by the defendant. In its answer, the defendant admitted the existence, as well as the validity of the contract, and that the plaintiff complied with all the promises, covenants, and conditions of the contract. She was also ready to comply with the completion of the performance and that she had anticipatorily repudiated and breached the signed contract. However, the defendant denied owing any money to the plaintiff, either under the terms of the contract or resulting from its breach and pleaded an affirmative defense to both causes of the plaintiff’s action. They assert that she willfully failed to mitigate damages, asserting that she turned down, unreasonably, and its offer of a leading role in the film Big Country. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment under the code of civil procedure section 437c. She was granted the motion and summary judgment for seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars with additi onal interest (Mann et al. 72). Issue Whether a secondary offer, of employment was enough to mitigate the damages from the contract’s breach and whether summary judgment should stand. Decision Summary was granted where facts are presented that give rise to an issue that is factually triable and not in dispute. The salary amount agreed upon acts as the measure of recovery minus the amount earned by