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Fox v. Ashland Oil, Inc.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Nov 10, 1987
134 A.D.2d 850 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Opinion

November 10, 1987

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Niagara County, Mintz, J.

Present — Doerr, J.P., Boomer, Pine, Balio and Davis, JJ.


Order unanimously reversed on the law without costs and motion denied. Memorandum: Special Term erred in granting third-party plaintiff Ashland Oil, Inc. summary judgment on its contractual indemnification claim at this stage of the litigation. None of the three grounds advanced by Ashland supports such relief. General Obligations Law § 5-322.1 is potentially applicable (Quevedo v. City of New York, 56 N.Y.2d 150, rearg denied 57 N.Y.2d 674) and its relevance cannot be known until fault is determined. No factual showing has been made here that the incident giving rise to plaintiff's injuries could not be wholly a result of the negligence of Ashland. Because General Obligations Law § 5-322.1 explicitly states that a contract as broad as the one in this case is against public policy and is void and unenforceable, the courts of this State will not enforce it even though the contract provides for interpretation of its terms under Kentucky law, where the language is enforceable (see, Clifton Steel Corp. v. General Elec. Co., 80 A.D.2d 714).


Summaries of

Fox v. Ashland Oil, Inc.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Nov 10, 1987
134 A.D.2d 850 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)
Case details for

Fox v. Ashland Oil, Inc.

Case Details

Full title:THEODORE L. FOX et al., Plaintiffs, v. ASHLAND OIL, INC., Defendant and…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department

Date published: Nov 10, 1987

Citations

134 A.D.2d 850 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

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