Tankanow v. Rivera

22 Mass. L. Rptr. 596
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedMay 2, 2007
DocketNo. WOCV20060775
StatusPublished

This text of 22 Mass. L. Rptr. 596 (Tankanow v. Rivera) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tankanow v. Rivera, 22 Mass. L. Rptr. 596 (Mass. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Agnes, Peter W., J.

1.Introduction

This is a civil action based on a claim of breach of contract and, alternatively, a claim for unjust enrichment, in which the plaintiff, Steven J. Tankanow (plaintiff), maintains that in exchange for boxing management and promotion services he provided to the defendant, Jose Rivera (defendant), the defendant failed to compensate him. The defendant has filed a motion to dismiss.

2.Standard governing motion under Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6)

Under Massachusetts law and pleading practice, a complaint is sufficient and will withstand a motion to dismiss under Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) “unless it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Nader v. Citron, 372 Mass. 96, 98 (1977) (quotation omitted). See also Kirkland Construction Co. v. James, 39 Mass.App.Ct. 559-60 (1995) (citations omitted) (“The lenient standard by which a complaint is measured on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is familiar. The allegations are taken as true, doubts are resolved in favor of the complainant, and the motion must be denied unless it is certain that no set of provable facts could entitle the plaintiff to relief’). “In evaluating a rule 12(b)(6) motion, we take into consideration ‘the allegations in the complaint, although matters of public record, orders, items appearing in the record of the case, and exhibits attached to the complaint, also may be taken into account.” Schaer v. Brandeis University, 432 Mass. 474, 477 (2000). While the plaintiffs factual allegations are accepted as true, the court will not consider legal conclusions cast in the form of factual allegations. Id. Moreover, although every reasonable inference favorable to the plaintiff will be accepted, the rule does not permit the plaintiff to rest on “subjective characterizations or conclusory descriptions of a general scenario which could be dominated by unpleaded facts.” Id. at 477-78 (quotations omitted).

3.Factual background

In a verified complaint, the plaintiff alleges that while working as a volunteer at the Worcester Boys and Girls Club beginning in the early nineties, he provided financial assistance to the boxing team. It was during this period that the plaintiff met the defendant who aspired to be a boxer. The defendant approached the plaintiff in 1993 and asked him (the [597]*597plaintiff) to manage his “newly developing professional boxing career." Later that year, according to the plaintiff, he was hired by the defendant to manage his career. Initially, the parties had an oral agreement whereby the plaintiff would receive 1 /3 of all “purse amounts” received by the defendant in exchange for serving as the defendant’s manager and promoter which included paying for the costs of training and comer support during fights, arranging professional fights and negotiating purse associated with the same, promoting the defendant, all with the goal of enabling the defendant to participate in a world championship fight. The defendant’s obligation, according to the plaintiff was to train and fight to the best of his ability. According to the plaintiff the agreement was supposed to be for as long as the defendant was a professional boxer.

4.

The plaintiff also alleges that he advanced money to the defendant on a regular basis from 1993 until 2005 even during periods when the defendant was not fighting and not earning any purses. The plaintiff also claims that he paid the costs of some of the defendant’s training even though that cost was to be deducted from the purses, and that he paid some of the defendant’s child support obligations. The plaintiff alleges he gave the defendant an interest free, 10-year loan for $20,000 and a loan to the defendant’s sister in the amount of $5,000.

5.

The plaintiff further alleges that on January 15, 2003, he and the defendant entered into a 2-year written contract for managerial services as a result of which the plaintiff was to receive 50% of all proceeds resulting from any services he performed under the contract. Upon the expiration of this agreement, the plaintiff maintains that the defendant again requested that the plaintiff serve as his manager for as long as he continues to fight. However, plaintiff reports that the defendant terminated his services as his manager on August 21, 2005.

6.

In the alternative, the plaintiff alleges that even if his contract claims are not successful, he is entitled to damages under a theory of unjust enrichment. The plaintiff claims, in total, he expended funds in excess of $300,000 to advance the interests of the defendant.

7. Discussion

(A)Statute of limitations

The defendant challenges the plaintiffs contract claims on several grounds. With regard to the statute of limitations issue, an action for breach of contract must be brought within six years after the cause of action accrues. G.L.c. 260, §2. “A cause of action for breach of contract accrues at the time of the breach . . . even though a specific amount of damages is unascertainable at the time of the breach or even if damages may not be sustained until a later time.” International Mobiles Corp. v. Corroon & Black/Fairfield & Ellis, Inc., 29 Mass.App.Ct. 215, 221 (1990) (citations omitted). Here, the complaint was filed on April 13, 2006. There is no allegation that the breach of contract was not discovered in a timely manner. Indeed, the Verified Complaint suggests that the breach of contract claim occurred sometime in the 1990s and that there were a series of breaches up to 2005. The plaintiff does not allege that he was induced to delay making his claim because of misrepresentations by the defendant. Accordingly, on a breach of contract theoiy, the plaintiff is precluded from recovering any damages as a result of any action or inaction by the defendant that occurred prior to April 13, 2000. The same rule applies with regard to the claim for recovery on a quantum meruit or unjust enrichment theory. See Rousseau v. Diemer, 24 F.Sup.2d 137142 (D.Mass. 1998); Barber v. Fox, 36 Mass.App.Ct. 525-29 (1994).

(B) Effect of 523 CMR §3.04(1) on Plaintiffs Contract Claim.

Chapter 523 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, adopted on December 27, 1996, provides in Section 3.04(1), in part, that “[a]ll contracts between boxers and managers shall be in writing, in triplicate, on forms provided by the Commission. Such contracts shall not exceed three years in duration, and the manager’s share of the boxer’s earnings shall not exceed 1/3 of each of the boxer’s purses. A copy of such contracts shall be filed with the Commission within 48 hours of being signed.” This court is required to take judicial notice of this regulation. See G.L.c. 30A, §6.

The plaintiff argues that §3.04(1) does not apply to a private cause of action for breach of contract by a manager against a boxer, and, if it is found to apply, it is unlawful as infringing on the common-law freedom of contract.

(C) Statutoiy scheme regarding professional boxing in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts legislature has adopted a number of detailed provisions which control all aspects of boxing in Massachusetts. The General Court has established a State Boxing Commission, see G.L.c. 22, §12, and authorized it to adopt rules and regulations. See G.L.c. 147, §46.

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Related

Barber v. Fox
632 N.E.2d 1246 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1994)
International Mobiles Corp. v. Corroon & Black/Fairfield & Ellis, Inc.
560 N.E.2d 122 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1990)
Nader v. Citron
360 N.E.2d 870 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1977)
Capazzoli v. Holzwasser
490 N.E.2d 420 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1986)
Castillo v. Barrera
53 Cal. Rptr. 3d 494 (California Court of Appeal, 2007)
Hudson v. Craft
204 P.2d 1 (California Supreme Court, 1949)
City of Lowell v. Massachusetts Bonding & Insurance
47 N.E.2d 265 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1943)
Beacon Hill Civic Ass'n v. Ristorante Toscano, Inc.
662 N.E.2d 1015 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1996)
Schaer v. Brandeis University
735 N.E.2d 373 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2000)
T.F. v. B.L.
813 N.E.2d 1244 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2004)
Kirkland Construction Co. v. James
658 N.E.2d 699 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
22 Mass. L. Rptr. 596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tankanow-v-rivera-masssuperct-2007.