Moreover, `failure to plead an affirmative defense is immaterial if evidence of the defense is introduced and not objected to for failure to plead it, and no surprise is claimed.' " (Emphasis supplied.) Phillips v. If it is not *243 pleaded it is generally held that the defense is waived, but if it is raised by motion, or by special plea in connection with the answer or by motion for summary judgment there is no waiver. "The purpose of the requirement that affirmative defenses be pleaded is to prevent surprise and to give the opposing party fair notice of what he must meet as a defense. However, estoppel is an affirmative defense, and must therefore be set forth affirmatively "n pleading to a preceding pleading." OCGA § 9-11-8 (c). "`Estoppel may be used to prevent a party from denying at the time of litigation a representation that was made by that party and accepted and reasonably acted upon by another party with detrimental results to the party that acted thereon. The trial court observed, in dicta not prompted by either party, that Albany Oil Mill did not present a defense of estoppel as was presented in the factually similar case of City of East Point v. The trial court granted summary judgment to Sumter Electric with respect to the main claim, and Albany Oil Mill appeals.ġ. Albany Oil Mill refused to pay the underbilled amount, and in turn Sumter brought suit to recover those sums. This underbilling was due to Sumter Electric's reliance on incomplete information gathered in the field. Sumter Electric underbilled Albany Oil Mill, Inc., for a ten-month period.
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