Wyle Inc. v. ITT Corp.

130 A.D.3d 438, 13 N.Y.S.3d 375
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJuly 7, 2015
Docket14107 653465/11
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 130 A.D.3d 438 (Wyle Inc. v. ITT Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wyle Inc. v. ITT Corp., 130 A.D.3d 438, 13 N.Y.S.3d 375 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles E. Ramos, J.), entered October 23, 2013, which denied defendants’ CPLR 3211 (a) (1) and (7) motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ amended complaint asserting fraudulent inducement, affirmed, without costs.

The court properly concluded that the fraudulent inducement claim was not duplicative of the breach of contract claim.

The underlying facts of this case are adequately set forth in the dissent and need not be repeated here. Moreover, we have little disagreement with our dissenting colleague’s review of the two lines of cases addressing the issue of whether a fraudulent inducement claim alleged in a complaint is duplicative of a breach of contract claim. Where we differ is in the application of those precedents to the facts before us.

It is axiomatic that in order to state a claim for fraudulent inducement, “there must be a knowing misrepresentation of [439]*439material present fact, which is intended to deceive another party and induce that party to act on it, resulting in injury” (GoSmile, Inc. v Levine, 81 AD3d 77, 81 [1st Dept 2010], lv dismissed 17 NY3d 782 [2011]). In the context of a contract case, the pleadings must allege misrepresentations of present fact, not merely misrepresentations of future intent to perform under the contract, in order to present a viable claim that is not duplicative of a breach of contract claim (id.). Moreover, these misrepresentations of present fact must be “collateral to the contract and [must have] induced the allegedly defrauded party to enter into the contract” (Orix Credit Alliance v Hable Co., 256 AD2d 114, 115 [1st Dept 1998]). Therefore, “[a]s a general rule, to recover damages for tort in a contract matter, it is necessary that the plaintiff plead and prove a breach of duty distinct from, or in addition to, the breach of contract” (Non-Linear Trading Co. v Braddis Assoc., 243 AD2d 107, 118 [1st Dept 1998] [internal quotation marks omitted]).

Here, defendants on appeal concede that the intentional failure to disclose an ongoing audit is a misrepresentation as to a present fact. They argue, however, that, since the nondisclosure is a breach of a contractual warranty contained in a specific provision of the contract itself, the misrepresentation is not collateral to the contract, thus making plaintiff’s fraudulent inducement claim duplicative of its breach of contract claim. Plaintiffs, on the other hand, contend that misrepresentation of a contractual warranty may form the basis of a separate fraudulent inducement claim, particularly where, as here, the misrepresentation concerns the core value of a business or asset in the contract. Both parties cite precedent in support of their positions. Therefore we must, as did the dissent, examine the two lines of cases cited to determine where this case falls.

We agree with the dissent that in order to sustain the fraud cause of action, there must be a breach of a duty separate from or in addition to the contract duty (see e.g. J.E. Morgan Knitting Mills v Reeves Bros., 243 AD2d 422 [1st Dept 1997]). Unlike the dissent, however, we find the cases cited by defendants turn on facts that distinguish them from the present case.

For example, in ESBE Holdings, Inc. v Vanquish Acquisition Partners, LLC (50 AD3d 397 [1st Dept 2008]), we held that the fraud causes of action were duplicative of the contract causes of action because they arose from the written provisions of the several agreements entered into by the parties (id. at 398). Significantly, however, we also found that the misrepresentations were not extraneous to those agreements because “none of [the] misrepresentations caused the actual investment [440]*440losses” (50 AD3d at 399). Here, the failure to disclose the General Services Administration audit as required by the contract directly resulted in the losses claimed. As discussed in further detail herein, a fraud claim can be based on a breach of contractual warranties notwithstanding the existence of a breach of contract claim (Jo Ann Homes at Bellmore v Dworetz, 25 NY2d 112, 120-121 [1969]).

Similarly, in RGH Liquidating Trust v Deloitte & Touche LLP (47 AD3d 516 [1st Dept 2008], lv dismissed 11 NY3d 804 [2008]), we found that the fraud claims were duplicative of the breach of contract claim because they were based on alleged fraudulent misrepresentations related to the defendants’ obligation under the agreement to conduct audits of financial statements with reasonable care. However, this is not the factual case before us. The representation in RGH involved future performance, i.e., the duty to conduct reliable audits, which was, we found, “in essence a claim of professional malpractice” (47 AD3d at 517). The misrepresentation was thus not one of present fact, as we concededly have in this case, but one of future intent, and the cause of action for fraud in RGH was thus properly dismissed.

The second line of cases on this issue hews closer to the facts before us.

In First Bank of Ams. v Motor Car Funding (257 AD2d 287 [1st Dept 1999]), the plaintiff bought used car loans from defendant Motor Car Funding (MCF). The agreement contained warranties that the loans would comply with certain underwriting guidelines. MCF allegedly misrepresented the quality of the loans, inducing First Bank to purchase less valuable loans, which ultimately resulted in losses to the plaintiff. We sustained the fraud claim, finding that the allegations that the defendants misrepresented certain facts about the loans “cannot be characterized merely as an insincere promise of future performance” (id. at 292). We went on to hold that “a cause of action for fraud may be maintained where a plaintiff pleads a breach of duty separate from, or in addition to, a breach of the contract (Non-Linear Trading Co. v Braddis Assoc., 243 AD2d 107, 118). For example, if a plaintiff alleges that it was induced to enter into a transaction because a defendant misrepresented material facts, the plaintiff has stated a claim for fraud even though the same circumstances also give rise to the plaintiff’s breach of contract claim . . . Unlike a misrepresentation of future intent to perform, a misrepresentation of present facts is collateral to the contract (though it may have induced the plaintiff to sign the contract) and therefore involves a separate [441]*441breach of duty (Deerfield Communications Corp. v Chesebrough-Ponds, Inc., 68 NY2d 954, 956 [(1986)]) . . .

“Nor is the fraud claim rendered redundant by the fact that these alleged misrepresentations breached the warranties made by MCF in the Agreement . . . The core of plaintiff’s claim is that defendants intentionally misrepresented material facts about various individual loans so that they would appear to satisfy these warranties . . . This is fraud, not breach of contract. A warranty is not a promise of performance, but a statement of present fact. Accordingly, a fraud claim can be based on a breach of contractual warranties notwithstanding the existence of a breach of contract claim (see, Jo Ann Homes at Bellmore v Dworetz, 25 NY2d 112, 120-121)” (257 AD2d at 291-292 [emphasis added]).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

One River Run Acquisition, LLC v. Milde
2025 NY Slip Op 03653 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2025)
ADP, Inc. v. E. Armada Inc.
2025 NY Slip Op 30607(U) (New York Supreme Court, New York County, 2025)
Island Consol. v. Grassi & Co., Certified Public Accountants PC
2025 NY Slip Op 30094(U) (New York Supreme Court, New York County, 2025)
Peraza v. Revere Capital Advisors, LLC
2024 NY Slip Op 03551 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2024)
IS Chrystie Mgt. LLC v. ADP, LLC
2022 NY Slip Op 02950 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2022)
International Business Machs. Corp. v. GlobalFoundries U.S. Inc.
167 N.Y.S.3d 13 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2022)
VXI Lux Holdco, S.A.R.L. v. SIC Holdings, LLC
2021 NY Slip Op 03294 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2021)
U.S. Tsubaki Holdings, Inc. v. Estes
2021 NY Slip Op 03273 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2021)
Avnet, Inc. v. Deloitte Consulting LLP
2020 NY Slip Op 05445 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2020)
Doller v. Prescott
2018 NY Slip Op 8733 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 A.D.3d 438, 13 N.Y.S.3d 375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wyle-inc-v-itt-corp-nyappdiv-2015.