What is Unjust Enrichment?

Did you ever think that you could win a lawsuit just because what happened to you wasn’t fair? No contract, no agreement, no fancy laws. Just the idea that, well, you got the short end of the stick.

It may not sound very legal, but that’s actually a real legal theory, which can allow you to receive damages—or obligate you to pay damages if you’re on the other end. It’s called unjust enrichment, and as the name suggests, it’s where someone benefits, and benefits unfairly.

That’s Not Fair!

The law recognizes that it is inherently unfair for someone to reap or derive a benefit from someone else’s wrongdoing or deceit—even if there never was a valid and binding contract or agreement. Just being immoral to someone else’s detriment, and thus, your own benefit can lead to being sued.

Proving the Claim

To show unjust enrichment, the person wronged needs to show that there was a benefit conferred on someone else who wanted that benefit or accepted it and that it would be inherently unfair or inequitable to allow that person to keep that benefit.

Examples of Unjust Enrichment

Imagine a boyfriend whose girlfriend says that she will work to help the boyfriend’s business. So, she quits her own job, and goes to work at her boyfriend’s business for free.

She works for hours, giving her time and foregoing her own chances to pursue her own career. The business flourishes.

When the couple has a fight, he breaks up with her and she gets nothing—no interest in the business, no compensation for her time or contributions to the business’ success.

The boyfriend has been clearly enriched; he wanted the benefit of the girlfriend’s work, got it, and accepted it.

You may say, but the girlfriend did that voluntarily, and the boyfriend never promised her anything. That’s true, but it also doesn’t matter. She was taken advantage of and he accepted and derived a benefit at her expense.

As another example, imagine someone who sits and watches someone else paint their house. Every day the home owner sees the other person painting, and doesn’t object or stop them—rather the home owner sits and accepts the benefit. The painter could, later, ask for payment or the services—even though they weren’t specifically asked for by the homeowner, they were known by and accepted by the homeowner.

Defenses to Unjust Enrichment

In many cases, as in our example, as a defense, the person enriched (the boyfriend) will say that what was provided by the person was done as a voluntary gift. Whether that is true or not depends on the intentions or understandings of the parties.

Of course, any payment received by the person who was allegedly taken advantage of, would defeat a claim of unjust enrichment—even if payment was substandard or less than the work or job performed.

Were you taken advantage of, or did you help someone and received nothing in return? You may have a claim for compensation. Call the West Palm Beach commercial litigation lawyers at Pike & Lustig today.

Sources:

jdsupra.com/legalnews/navigating-unjust-enrichment-claims-in-9609911/

floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/distinguishing-quantum-meruit-and-unjust-enrichment-in-the-construction-setting/