Court rejects 2.9 million króna claim over staff party date

Hafnarfjörður municipality was not required to pay a sound-system rental operator 2,912,138 krónur after moving its employees’ annual party by a week, the District Court of Reykjanes ruled, mbl.is reported.

The court said the municipality had given written notice more than a month in advance. The ruling was issued on November 9, and legal costs were waived.

The parties agreed in 2019 on sound-system and equipment rentals for municipal events, including the annual party, which the contract documents scheduled for the first Saturday in March. The agreement was later extended for two years without a written extension. The plaintiff handled technical arrangements at the party in March 2023.

The dispute concerned the 2024 party, which the municipality moved from March 2 to March 9. The plaintiff said he had already committed to another job on the new date and argued that the municipality had breached the agreement by changing the date unilaterally. He said he was entitled to lost income. His original claim was nearly 3.5 million krónur.

The court found that the original contract terms remained in force after the extension, including the scheduled date. But the contract also allowed the municipality to cancel a particular event with one month’s written notice. The court ruled that this provision covered changes to an event as well as cancellations, and that emails sent on January 29 and 31 gave sufficient notice. It also rejected the argument that notice had to be sent in a signed letter rather than by email.