Williams v. Deep Rock Oil Corp‪.‬

The plaintiff, S.W. Williams, entered into a written contract with the defendant, Deep Rock Oil Corporation, on the 25th day of August, 1930, under the terms of which the plaintiff was to operate a service station for the defendant in the town of Carroll, Iowa, and was to receive as his compensation a commission of 3 cents per gallon for all grades of gasoline sold by him at said station at and for prices fixed and determined by the defendant company. The contract further provided that an additional commission of 1/2 cent per gallon should be paid to plaintiff at the end of the year on all grades of gasoline in the event that the sales at said station exceeded 60,000 gallons. There were additional provisions in the contract for compensation for the sale of motor oil, greases, etc., which are not involved in the present controversy. The plaintiff entered into the service of the company on or about the date of the said contract and continued in its employ until the 19th day of May, 1931. In the latter part of February, 1931, a situation arose at Carroll in which a cheaper gasoline was put upon the market by competing service stations, and in order to meet such competition the defendant supplied to the plaintiff a grade of gasoline much cheaper than they had been handling at said station. It was orally agreed between the plaintiff and defendant that his commission on such cheaper grade of gasoline should be reduced to 1 cent a gallon; nothing, however, being said as to the provision of his contract in reference to the extra 1/2 cent per gallon bonus or commission. During the first part of April, 1931, a new form of contract was presented to the plaintiff by the defendant, providing that the plaintiff should receive as his compensation 3 cents per gallon for two certain high grades of gasoline, and 1 cent per gallon on all sales of competitive gasoline; said second contract omitting all reference to the extra 1/2 cent per gallon commission or bonus. This contract was dated February 26, 1931, but was not signed by the plaintiff until April 10, 1931. There is a sharp conflict in the record as to the negotiations leading up to the signing [216 Iowa Page 823]