#consideration #contract

FACTS: The plaintiff contracted to erect stands at Olympia for the defendant. A week before the exhibition, the plaintiff's workman went on strike, refusing to return to work until a pay demand was met. The plaintiff told the defendant that, unless the defendant paid an additional £4,500, the contract would be cancelled. The plaintiff made it clear that the amount to be paid was to be in addition to the contract price. The defendant paid the amount demanded by the plaintiff so as to get the contract performed: the cancellation of the contract would have caused serious damage to the defendant's economic interests. However, the defendant then deducted this figure from the contract price paid to the plaintiff. The plaintiff then claimed the balance. HELD by the Court of Appeal: Since the cancellation of the contract would have caused serious damage to the defendant's economic interests, they had no choice but to pay the sum demanded by the plaintiff and so it was paid under duress. The plaintiff was therefore not entitled to the extra £4,500 which the defendant had paid under economic duress. Importantly, the defendant acted sufficiently promptly by deducting the extra £4,500 from the contract price thereby avoiding the new agreement – contrast this with the actions of the ship owners in The Atlantic Baron [1979].

B & S Contracts and Design Ltd v Victor Green Publications Ltd [1984] ICR 419