Salsbury v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co.

Salsbury v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Court	Iowa Supreme Court
Full case name	John Salsbury, Appellee, v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, Appellant.
Decided	September 18, 1974
Defendant	Northwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Plaintiff	John Salsbury
Citation	221 N.W.2d 609, 1974 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1120
Court membership
Judges sitting	David Harris, Don LeGrand, W. W. Reynoldson
Case opinions
Decision by	David Harris

Salsbury v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co., 221 N.W.2d 609 (IA 1974), was a case decided by the Iowa Supreme Court concerning contract law.

Background

When John Salsbury was helping to establish Charles City College, Northwestern Bell agreed to make a $5,000 contribution for the next three years but only made one payment. The school sued for breach of contract but the telephone company maintained the contract was unenforceable because they received no consideration for the donations.

Decision

The court adopted the position of the Restatement of Contracts, Second that charitable subscriptions can be enforced even without consideration or detrimental reliance.

External links

• Text of Salsbury v. Northwestern Bell Telephone Co., 221 N.W.2d 609 (1974) is available from: CourtListener Google Scholar Justia Leagle Casetext