Brief Fact Summary. A water company contracted with a city to provide it water. A fire broke out and an individual's house was destroyed. The individual whose house was destroyed brought suit against the water company alleging it knew about the fire, but did not provide enough water or water pressure to the area to fight the fire.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A member of the public does not have standing to bring an action under [Lawrence v. Fox] "unless an intention appears that the promisor is to be answerable to individual members of the public as well as to the city for any loss ensuing from the failure to fulfill the promise, a householder is without remedy against it."
Liability would be unduly and indeed indefinitely extended by this enlargement of the zone of duty.
View Full Point of LawIssue. Does the Plaintiff have a valid cause of action for breach of contract against the city?
Held. No. The city does not have a legal duty to supply its residents with protection against fire. As such, a member of the public does not have standing to bring an action under [Lawrence v. Fox] with one caveat, "unless an intention appears that the promisor is to be answerable to individual members of the public as well as to the city for any loss ensuing from the failure to fulfill the promise, a householder is without remedy against it." The court divided the contract into two branches. First, "a promise to the city for the benefit of the city in its corporate capacity, in which branch is included the service at the hydrants." A second branch is "a promise to the city for the benefit of private takers, in which branch is included the service at their homes and factories." More is needed however, for a party to be treated as a third party beneficiary when not a formal party to the agreement. In other words, the Defendant's obligation does not spread its protection so far.
• Thus, based on the law of the state "a contract between a city and a water company to furnish water at the city hydrants has in view a benefit to the public that is incidental rather than immediate, an assumption of duty to the city and not to its inhabitants." The court also recognizes the realities of what this obligation would entail. Further, "[t]he consequences invited would bear no reasonable proportion to those attached by law to defaults not greatly different." As such "[a] promisor will not be deemed to have had in mind the assumption of a risk so overwhelming for any trivial reward."
• In order for the larger burden to be established, there must be the intention to compensate the individual members of the public if there is a breach. Meaning the covenants made by the contractors were "not merely to indemnify the city, but to assume its liabilities."
Discussion. It is interesting to read this case alongside [Lawrence v. Fox] and see how the cases coexist with one another.