QUESTION A. Henry Mason agreed with Grey Electric Co. to purchase three reels of burial
cable for use in Mason’s construction work. When the reels were delivered, each carton was
marked "burial cable," although two of the reels were in fact aerial cable. Mason accepted
the conforming reel of cable and notified Grey that he was rejecting the two reels of aerial
cable. Because of a trucker’s strike, Mason was unsuccessful in arranging for the return of
the reels to Grey. He stored the reels in a well-lighted space near a grocery store owner’s
dwelling, which was close to his work site. About four months later, he noticed that one of
the reels had been stolen. On the following day, he notified Grey of the loss and, worried
about the safety of the second reel, arranged to have it transported to a garage for
storage. Before the second reel could be transferred, however, it was also stolen, and Mason
notified Grey of the second theft. Grey sued Mason for the purchase price, claiming that
Mason had agreed to return to Grey the nonconforming reels and had failed to do so. Mason
contended that he had agreed only to contact a trucking company to return the reels and that,
because he had contacted three trucking firms to no avail (owing to the strike), his obligation
had been fulfilled. Discuss who bears the risk of loss for the stolen reels.
1. Write a thorough definition of the law(s) for the legal issue addressed in the question
2. Make a full legal analysis of the legal scenario.
3. Conclusion