Under common law, if the breach is material, what remedies can the nonbreaching party pursue? If the breach is minor, what is possible?

• A. Withhold any promised performance and pursue remedies for breach; damages may also be recoverable.
• B. Only terminate the contract.
• C. Only require performance to continue unchanged.
• D. The nonbreaching party has no remedies.

Answer: (A)

When a breach is material, the nonbreaching party may treat the contract as at least partially repudiated, suspend or withhold their own performance, and pursue remedies for breach, including damages. The key idea is that a material breach goes to the heart of the agreement, freeing the other party to stop performing and to seek compensation for the breach; termination of the contract can also be possible in many cases.

If the breach is minor, the nonbreaching party is typically still obligated to perform, and the remedy is to continue performance while seeking damages for the breach, rather than stepping back from the contract entirely. Damages may be available in either scenario, but the ability to withhold performance is tied to a material breach, not a minor one.

The option chosen reflects the material-breach side: withholding promised performance and pursuing remedies, with damages potentially recoverable. The other choices either overstate restrictions (only termination), oversimplify (only require continued performance), or deny remedies altogether, which don’t align with how common-law breaches are resolved.