The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rejected Cody Easterday’s petition for an en banc hearing to reconsider whether Tyson Fresh Meats broke a contract by not paying him for using his brand to sell beef in Japan.
Easterday alleged to have enough facts to show an enforceable verbal agreement between him and Tyson; the court disagreed.
“While Easterday alleges that it was his understanding that the parties would split the profits 50-50, ‘the unexpressed subjective intention of the parties is irrelevant,’” the court wrote in its decision.
The court said Easterday did not express his understanding that the parties would share the profit, nor did he demand payment from the company due to his ghost cattle scheme.
“Tyson therefore could not have had actual or constructive knowledge of Easterday’s expectation of payment,” the court said.
