Question

Morty is 80, and a back injury makes it impossible for him to keep up with his yardwork. The weeds in his lawn are knee high and when his son John comes to visit, he calls a local landscaping company. John agrees to pay $500 for the company to send workers to mow his Dad Morty’s lawn every two weeks for the rest of the year. The company bills John's credit card, but it never sends anyone to cut the grass. As the summer wears on, John and Morty make several angry phone calls to the landscaper, without result. The owner of the company seems not to care, and it may take a lawsuit to motivate him to refund John's money so that he can hire someone else to do the job. But if John is too busy to take legal action, can Morty sue the landscaping company? Explain by describing the type of relationship Morty has with the landscaper.

Answer 1

Yes, Morty can sue the landscaper for breach of contract. The lawsuit can be filed based on the following terms:-

- There is a valid enforceable contract between John and the landscaper

- There is breach of contract by the landscaper as he did not show up for the work at all.

- The landscaper failed to fulfill his duties of cleaning the lawn for the annual amount ($500) paid to him.

Though Morty is a third party in this case, he can file the lawsuit as an “intended beneficiary” under the contract. In other words, the relationship type that Morty had with the landscaper is an intended beneficiary. A third party intended beneficiary is to whom the contracting parties intend to benefit. In this case, the contracting parties (John and the landscaper) intended to benefit Morty (third party intended beneficiary). Hence, Morty can sue the landscaper for breach of contract as a third party intended beneficiary.