Business Law 16th Edition by Jane Mallor,James Barnes ,Arlen Langvardt,Jamie Darin Prenkert,Martin McCrory

Exercise 1

Armstrong and Pottle worked as ceramic grinders at Morton International's Spencer facility. When the Rohm Haas Co. ("R H") acquired Morton, it gave employees a month to decide whether to quit and receive a severance payment or transfer to another facility and receive a larger incentive payment. Armstrong and Pottle wanted to keep their jobs, but the plant manager told them that they would make more money if they would resign and start their own business handling R H's outsourced grinding work. He stated that R H would give Armstrong and Pottle's new business all the outsourced work they could handle and that the company would like to give them all its outsourced work. Armstrong and Pottle followed this advice, and their business failed. In addition, R H continued giving outsourced work to another firm. Armstrong and Pottle asserted the formation of an oral contract and claimed that R H breached it. Were they correct?