From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Letizia v. Executive Coach Auto Repair, Ltd.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 6, 1995
213 A.D.2d 382 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Opinion

March 6, 1995

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Coppola, J.).


Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.

Contrary to the plaintiff's contention, the Supreme Court properly refused to pierce the corporate veil of Executive Coach Auto Repair, Ltd. As a general rule, a court will not pierce the corporate veil or disregard corporate form in the absence of a showing that "(1) the owners exercised complete domination of the corporation in respect to the transaction attacked; and (2) that such domination was used to commit a fraud or wrong against the plaintiff which resulted in plaintiff's injury" (Matter of Morris v. New York State Dept. of Taxation Fin., 82 N.Y.2d 135, 141; see also, Hyland Meat Co. v. Tsagarakis, 202 A.D.2d 552). Here, the plaintiff's evidentiary submissions were insufficient to demonstrate that the judgment debtor, who is not a shareholder of the corporation, exercised such a degree of control over the corporation that he dominated it with respect to the transaction at issue. Moreover, the record is devoid of any evidence that the judgment debtor, through his domination, abused the privilege of doing business in the corporate form to perpetrate a wrong or injustice against the plaintiff (see, Matter of Morris v. New York State Dept. of Taxation Fin., supra; Hyland Meat Co. v Tsagarakis, supra). Indeed, we note that there is no indication that the transaction at issue was in any way related to the corporation, or the judgment debtor's position as president of the corporation. Accordingly, no basis for piercing the corporate veil has been established, and the plaintiff's motion was properly dismissed (see, New York Assn. for Retarded Children v Keator 199 A.D.2d 921; Sovereign Metal Corp. v. Ciraco, 210 A.D.2d 75). Bracken, J.P., Pizzuto, Altman and Krausman, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Letizia v. Executive Coach Auto Repair, Ltd.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Mar 6, 1995
213 A.D.2d 382 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
Case details for

Letizia v. Executive Coach Auto Repair, Ltd.

Case Details

Full title:JOSEPH LETIZIA, Appellant, v. EXECUTIVE COACH AUTO REPAIR, LTD., et al.…

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

Date published: Mar 6, 1995

Citations

213 A.D.2d 382 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
623 N.Y.S.2d 327

Citing Cases

Vyskocil v. Schatt

Here, the Plaintiffs wholly failed to proffer any evidence establishing the material elements necessary to…

Theatre Row Phase II Associates v. Hs&sI Inc.

Absent any express statutory language or case law to the contrary, no formal barriers exist barring a…