Nicole vs. Chloe

[Poirot]

Could/would Nicole's next step be to sue Chloe for breach of contract? What would be her chances in that case. *I mean, Chloe signed a contract, and according to the terms, if the implant was successful, Chloe was to inform the parents instantly, so they could be part of the entire pregnancy, etc.

Not only did Chloe fail to do that, she failed to turn over the baby immediately, failed to inform Nicole she was the parent, upon Holly's birth (she was awake, coherent, and told Nicole to name the baby, so there was time then).

Yes, Chloe had a stroke, was in a coma, and when she woke up, she still failed to inform Nicole, and was lucky enough herself to apparently suffer no ill effects, in fact after being in bed all that while, was even able to walk with no trouble. No rehab, and her mom went home.

And when the truth finally came out, no thanks to Chloe, she STILL refused to return Holly to her parent.

After that custody case, I just thought that should/could/would be Nicole's next step. Justin has never even mentioned it, though.

 

[dtkssk]

As has been said several times, Justin did a TERRIBLE job. I am not a lawyer, but worked my way through nursing school as a paralegal and have some idea that you are exactly right about the breach of contract. Just wish the writers would do some research on these topics too! Stories are much more interesting when there are real facts included.

 

[Just Samantha]

DrBakerFan said from the beginning that Nicole could've sued for breach of contract.

 

[Poirot]

Yes, but that has not been mentioned, or so far, even considered. Why not?

 

[KathyLu]

Could/would Nicole's next step be to sue Chloe for breach of contract?

Anywhere else in the free world: "Yes." In Salem, it's hard to say.

 

[PuppyLove]

I wonder if there ever was a formal contract between them? There were several conversations where Nicole mentioned that she and Daniel could not go the traditional surrogate route because of her past and that Chloe agreed to do it despite Nicole's past because they were BFFs. Perhaps it was just a simple agreement between them as friends? I'm not sure if that is something that can really be done legally but in Salem anything is possible.

 

[Poirot]

Oh, they definitely had a legal contract. It has been mentioned several times. The contract also said if Chloe wanted to try again, after a failure, she could without consulting the parents. Thus, this is what she did, not telling Nicole, so if it failed, Nik would not be disappointed again.

Justin did reference it at the custody hearing, but only saying she did not tell Nicole.

It would seem, (I have no legal foundation for this opinion), Chloe stole Nicole's egg, and Daniel's sperm, to have a baby for herself. No different than ...say your neighbor has the key to your house, which you have given, in case you are locked out, or need help. And while you are not home, that neighbor goes in your house, takes food, makes long distance calls on your phone, just takes things of yours. You may not notice something missing.....towels, sheets, a shirt, book, .....but the fact is, that neighbor has stolen items from your home.

 

[JasonDíSpeech]

Yes, but that has not been mentioned, or so far, even considered. Why not?

It's another case of Terrible, Awful, Really Bad Writing by Dena Higley.

I would like that "next step" to be the case, but as we know, that would be creative (not a Higley strong suit), original (ditto), and require competent on-screen professionals (even I am laughing). Instead we're getting a retread kidnapping with the "twist" being the perp is the bio mom. Yay.

 

[Jen67]

Here is a real life scenario where the surrogate mother won the custody case to keep the child. She was also on welfare raising two kids of her own. Keep in mind, this happened in the U.K., so their laws might be different than ours.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356176/Surrogate-mother-wins-case-baby-giving-birth.html

 

[Just Samantha]

In that article, it stated there was no formal or legal agreement between the couple and the surrogate. Plus, they used surrogate's egg, so she was the biological mother.

 

[ShaSha]

Welcome dtkssk. Have fun. ShaSha

 

[PuppyLove]

Hmmm...thanks to all for the clarification. So if there is a contract I would think that Chloe is definitely in breach of their agreement. But that would be too easy for our Salem friends. They make their own laws there to suit the plot. I agree with Jason D that it was not well written. It had potential though. Sigh...

Many of us have waited years for Nicole to have a child and for her to be this close and lose over such a lame reason just doesn't cut it. I still can vividly see her excruciating grief when she lost her little girl and again when her baby boy was stillborn. I hope that the payoff for all this nonsense is worth it.

 

[Designing Woman]

Just wondering, how valid is that contract after Daniel's death? One might assume that both he and Nicole signed it as a couple. I'm no legal expert or even amateur. Just wondering.

 

[Poirot]

Yes, they did, Chloe mentioned once that the terms of the contract allowed her to not need permission to attempt another implant. That is how she was able to do that.