Chicago Prime Packers Inc. v. Northam Food Trading Co.
Case Summary

Brief summary
In the case of Chicago Prime Packers, Inc, v. Northam Food Trading Co., the main dispute is between an American company (Chicago Prime Packers) and a Canadian company (Northam Food Trading). Both firms are wholesalers of meat products. In this particular case, Chicago Prime sold Northam ribs worth of $178,200.00. Later on, it was discovered that the ribs were spoiled and Northam did not pay Chicago Prime. There was a bench trial conducted on December 15, 16 and 17, 2003. The court examined the testimonies and the evidence presented by the parties and found that Chicago Prime is entitled to $178,200.00 for damages plus pre-judgment interest of $27,242.63.
Facts
Chicago Prime signed a contract with Northam to sell them pork ribs, which he acquired from another American company, Brookfield that actually processed the ribs. Northam sold the acquired goods to another company Beacon Premium Meats. The goods were delivered by Brown Brothers Trucking Company from a warehousing company that Brookfield uses, B & B Pullmann Cold Storage. The date of the pick-up of the goods was April 24, and Brown Brothers signed the First Bill of Lading stating that the ribs were “in apparent good order”, also mentioning that the content and quality of the content was unknown at the time of receipt.
The next day, Brown Brothers delivered the ribs to Beacon where the Second Bill of Lading was signed. This stated that the ribs were "in apparent good order," except for "21 boxes [that] were gouged and [the] meat in [those boxes] show [ed] signs of freezer burn.”
Chicago Prime paid Brookfield for the ribs and it was waiting for payment from Northam, which was supposed to arrive on May 1. On May 2, Chicago Prime demanded payment from Northam. Sandra Burdon, an employee of Northam who was in contact