Estrada

Defendant, Darling-Crose Machine Company, appeals from a money judgment in favor of plaintiff, Richard Estrada, contending that the court erroneously applied the parol evidence rule to exclude evidence of custom.

The facts are not in dispute. Defendant is a distributor of machine tools for whom plaintiff acted as a, sales engineer or sales representative between mid-1963 and December 31, 1965. On or about July 1,1963, plaintiff and defendant entered into a letter agreement to formalize two points of their understanding concerning plaintiff’s employment: 1) that plaintiff’s commission would be “35% of the net commission on the sale (i.e. 35% of the net amount of sale)”; 2) the expenses to which he would be entitled. The letter was not intended to be a comprehensive, contract but merely to confirm the parties’ understanding with respect to the limited points covered.

On December 31, 1965, plaintiff resigned as an employee of defendant. Prior thereto, plaintiff had solicited certain orders for machinery to be purchased from defendant. This machinery was not delivered to defendant’s customers until nine months after plaintiff had left defendant’s employ. The single issue in…