Cirillo v. Slomin’s Inc.
Supreme Court of New York, Nassau County
768 N.Y.S.2d 759 (2003)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
The Cirillos (plaintiffs) spoke to Howard Goldberg, a representative for Slomin’s Inc. (defendant), about buying an alarm system from Slomin’s. Among other things, Goldberg told the Cirillos that the alarm system would send a signal to a central station using telephone lines. Goldberg also told the Cirillos that if their telephone line were cut, the alarm would automatically send a signal to the central station and police would respond. The Cirillos agreed to buy the alarm system. The purchase contract contained a merger clause and several boilerplate disclaimers. The merger clause stated that there were “no oral … representations between the parties.” Two general disclaimers claimed that the Cirillos acknowledged that Slomin’s had not made any representations outside the contract and the Cirillos were not relying on any prior representations. The contract also contained a specific disclaimer that: “Slomin’s makes no representation or warranty that the alarm system . . . may not be circumvented, compromised or defeated.” After the system was installed, a burglar cut the telephone lines to the Cirillos’ home and burglarized it. Either the central station did not receive an automatic signal, or it was ignored. As a result, the burglary was not discovered until the Cirillos came home. The Cirillos sued Slomin’s for fraud, negligence, and breach of warranty. Slomin’s did not dispute that Goldberg made the precontractual statement. However, Slomin’s argued that the contract prevented the Cirillos’ claims because it disclaimed any warranty that the system could not be circumvented.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Winslow, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 833,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.