Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Pest Control Service Ruined My Garden

It sounds to me like you would have a good case if you had to go to court. The assurance of the pest control service that your garden would not be harmed probably qualifies as a warranty, and they evidently breached that warranty by using a pesticide that harmed your garden. While contract claims like this one ordinarily don't cover "consequential" damages -- e.g., harm done to other interests beyond those which are the subject of the contract -- there is an exception where the breaching party is aware in advance of the harm a breach will cause. Your pest service was aware of your garden and of your interest in it, and this should be enough to hold them responsible for the damage to the plants, etc. I don't know whether emotional distress damages would be available here, but you would have a good argument to make.

You don't indicate how extensive your garden is or how valuable the plants are -- if the cost of repairing the garden will be less than $5,000.00, you could take the service to small claims court. You wouldn't get emotional distress damages, but you also wouldn't need a lawyer and you could get the matter resolved much more quickly. If your garden is more elaborate, a suit in a more traditional court might be advisable.

Whatever you do, make sure you have photos of the damage. Hopefully, if you haven't taken such photos already, the damage is still visible and can be captured on film today.

Before resorting to the courts, of course, you should write a letter to the service demanding compensation. They may be willing to negotiate in order to avoid a lawsuit.

Good luck!

Re: Pest Control Service Ruined My Garden

Ed is correct, you have a good case to recover the cost to repair the garden but damages for emotional distress are not allowed in this type of case.