Opinion
2002-07668.
Decided April 19, 2004.
In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for breach of contract, the plaintiff appeals, as limited by its brief, from so much of an interlocutory judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Rudolph, J.), entered July 10, 2002, as, after a nonjury trial, determined that independent sales representatives hired before August 12, 1999, and the salaried employees of the defendant Interstate Energy Resources, Inc., were not its salespersons, and awarded it an accounting only of sales generated by its salespersons from August 12, 1999, through September 30, 2000.
Brian R. Hoch, White Plains, N.Y., for appellant.
Fried, Iosepovici Popescu, New York, N.Y. (Armand Fried of counsel), for respondents.
Before: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., SONDRA MILLER, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT, SANDRA L. TOWNES, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the interlocutory judgment is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
The Supreme Court properly determined that the contract between the parties was ambiguous, and considered testimony presented by the parties at trial to interpret the terms of their agreement ( see W.W.W. Assocs. v. Giacontieri, 77 N.Y.2d 157, 160; Weiner v. Anesthesia Assocs. of W. Suffolk, 203 A.D.2d 455). Considering the general purpose of the contract, the court interpreted it with reference to the whole, and properly limited the accounting awarded ( see Matter of Westmoreland Coal Co. v. Entech, Inc., 100 N.Y.2d 352, 358; State of New York v. Home Indem. Co., 66 N.Y.2d 669, 671).
SANTUCCI, J.P., S. MILLER, SCHMIDT and TOWNES, JJ., concur.