From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Queens Group, Inc. v. Martin Packaging Corp.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 16, 1997
245 A.D.2d 183 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)

Opinion

December 16, 1997

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Lewis Friedman, J.).


The IAS Court correctly held that plaintiff has no cause of action ( see, Leon v. Martinez, 84 N.Y.2d 83, 87-88). The second cause of action for fraud against the individual defendants is not viable since it relates solely to the purported breach of contract ( see, Stuart Lipsky, P. C. v. Price, 215 A.D.2d 102). The third cause of action, which is based solely upon a purported oral continuation of the restrictive covenant contained in the parties' written 1982 contract terminated by plaintiff, is not viable since by its terms the restrictive covenant is not capable of performance within one year (General Obligations Law § 5-701 [a] [1]). The balance of the complaint, which seeks to recover for the corporate defendant's "brokering out" of work from plaintiff's customers or former customers, and is based on an alleged oral agreement to continue the substantive provisions of the 1982 written contract, is not viable since, aside from the fact that the alleged oral agreement is flatly contradicted by plaintiff's letter terminating the 1982 written contract, any obligation on defendants' part to process brokered work through plaintiff could arise under the 1982 contract only through application of the unenforceable restrictive covenant. The doctrine of part performance does not avail plaintiff absent any allegations of conduct unequivocally referable to those portions of the alleged oral extension agreement that were allegedly breached ( see, U.K Cable Ventures v. Bell Atl. Invs., 232 A.D.2d 294, 295, lv dismissed 89 N.Y.2d 981).

Concur — Ellerin, J. P., Wallach, Mazzarelli, Andrias and Colabella, JJ.


Summaries of

Queens Group, Inc. v. Martin Packaging Corp.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Dec 16, 1997
245 A.D.2d 183 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
Case details for

Queens Group, Inc. v. Martin Packaging Corp.

Case Details

Full title:QUEENS GROUP, INC., Appellant, v. MARTIN PACKAGING CORP. et al.…

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

Date published: Dec 16, 1997

Citations

245 A.D.2d 183 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
666 N.Y.S.2d 593

Citing Cases

The Diversified Group, Inc. v. Daugerdas

Oral contracts containing restrictive covenants not capable of being performed within one year fall under…

Kahlon v. Creative Pool & Spa Inc.

Specifically, "[a] fraud claim is not sufficiently stated where it alleges that a defendant did not intend to…