Opinion
11506 Index 654271/16
05-14-2020
EAST OF HUDSON RAIL FREIGHT TASK FORCE, INC., Plaintiff–Appellant, v. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, Defendant–Respondent.
Law Office of John McHugh, New York (John F. McHugh of counsel), for appellant. Port Authority Law Department, New York (Allen F. Acosta of counsel), for respondent.
Law Office of John McHugh, New York (John F. McHugh of counsel), for appellant.
Port Authority Law Department, New York (Allen F. Acosta of counsel), for respondent.
Richter, J.P., Oing, Singh, Moulton, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (David B. Cohen, J.), entered November 30, 2018, which, insofar appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted defendant's motion to dismiss the first cause of action (breach of fiduciary duty) pursuant to CPLR 3211, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The motion court properly found, as a matter of law, that defendant did not owe a fiduciary duty to plaintiff. Defendant never held funds belonging to plaintiff; rather, it was supposed to enter into a contract with plaintiff so that plaintiff could submit bills to defendant. This does not create a fiduciary relationship (see Waldman v. Englishtown Sportswear, 92 A.D.2d 833, 836, 460 N.Y.S.2d 552 [1st Dept. 1983] ).
Since plaintiff does not have a valid claim, it is unnecessary to consider whether it accrued within one year before the instant action was commenced, as required by Unconsolidated Laws § 7107, or whether defendant is estopped from enforcing the requirements of that statute.
We have considered plaintiff's argument that defendant's motion was premature because discovery was incomplete, and find it unavailing.