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Time Warner Entertainment Co. v. Brustowsky

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Nov 28, 1995
221 A.D.2d 268 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

Summary

finding a regulatory definition of a term not determinative of its meaning in a contract where proof was adduced indicating that the parties intended an independent meaning

Summary of this case from In re Bank of New England Corp.

Opinion

November 28, 1995

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Edward Lehner, J.).


The trial court, in charging the jury, properly required the jury to interpret and determine the fair and reasonable meaning of the term "hazardous substances" as used in the lease between the parties. This Court specifically determined, on a prior appeal, that the lease provision at issue was ambiguous and that the parties' intent with respect thereto must be resolved at trial ( Manhattan Cable Tel. v Brustowsky, 191 A.D.2d 253, 254). Resolution by a fact finder is required where, as here, interpretation of a contract term is susceptible to varying reasonable interpretations and intent must be gleaned from disputed evidence or from inferences outside the written words ( Mallad Constr. Corp. v County Fed. Sav. Loan Assn., 32 N.Y.2d 285, 291).

The trial court also properly refused plaintiff's request to charge the jurors on the basis of one isolated statutory definition of the term "hazardous substances" set forth in ECL 370103 ( 6 NYCRR 597.1 [a] [3] [ix]). Plaintiff conceded at trial that such a regulatory definition was not determinative of the issue, and the evidence adduced at trial established that the parties intended a meaning for the lease provision at issue independent of any conflicting statutory or regulatory definitions of "hazardous substances" in the complex Federal and State environmental scheme ( cf., Dolman v United States Trust Co., 2 N.Y.2d 110).

Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Ellerin, Ross, Nardelli and Tom, JJ.


Summaries of

Time Warner Entertainment Co. v. Brustowsky

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Nov 28, 1995
221 A.D.2d 268 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)

finding a regulatory definition of a term not determinative of its meaning in a contract where proof was adduced indicating that the parties intended an independent meaning

Summary of this case from In re Bank of New England Corp.
Case details for

Time Warner Entertainment Co. v. Brustowsky

Case Details

Full title:TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT CO., L.P., Appellant, v. EARL BRUSTOWSKY…

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

Date published: Nov 28, 1995

Citations

221 A.D.2d 268 (N.Y. App. Div. 1995)
634 N.Y.S.2d 82

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Discerning this intent ordinarily requires the adjudication of factual questions. See Ruttenberg, 626…