DORTON V. COLLINS & AIKMAN CORP. US Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 1972

							CONTRACTS DORTON V. COLLINS & AIKMAN CORP. US Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 1972 History: Collins moved for a stay pending arbitration; finding arbitration was not binding, court denied the stay; Collins appeals Facts: Dorton (Plaintiff) a partner in Carpet Mart bought from Collins (Defendant) in a series of transactions; Dorton or one of Collins salesman would telephone Collins order department and order carpet listed in Collins catalogue; Collins would then type info on its preprinted acknowledgement forms which contained a provision that all claims arising out of the contract would be submitted to arbitration; Dorton never objected; he then learned some of the carpets were made of a cheaper fiber than contracted for; he sued for damages due to Collins deceit and misrepresentation Issue: Does a form that states that acceptance is subject to all the terms printed on the form satisfy the “expressly made conditional” requirement of UCC2-207(1) Holding: No—Judgment reversed and remanded for decision under that code Analysis: Court should have decided if forms were acceptances or confirmations under 2-207 Since parties conduct showed contract existed, but writings of parties did not agree, court determined UCC would supply additional terms; but UCC does not impose an arbitration code Additional terms must be treated as proposals under UCC2-207