Acetylene Gas Company v. Thomas R. Oliver

A jury found for defendants on plaintiff's breach of contract claim and for defendant, Thomas Oliver, on his counterclaim for tortious interference with a contract or business expectancy. The trial court entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict on Thomas Oliver's counterclaim and judgment for defendants on plaintiff's breach of contract claim. Thomas Oliver appeals and plaintiff cross-appeals. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand. Plaintiff, Acetylene Gas Company (""AGC""), manufactures compressed gases. On May 14, 1965, AGC and Ray Oliver entered into service and resale agreements where Ray Oliver would purchase the compressed gases, in cylinders owned by AGC, and then resell the gases to ""resale"" customers. Typically, Ray Oliver delivered empty cylinders to AGC's facility, exchanged them for filled cylinders and delivered these cylinders directly to the resale customers or to drop stations where the resale customers would pick up the filled cylinders. The resale customers either had a lifetime lease with AGC for the cylinders or paid a daily rental fee to Ray Oliver who was billed by AGC.