Northway Engineering, Inc. v. Felix Industries, Inc.
New York Court of Appeals
77 N.Y.2d 332, 567 N.Y.S.2d 634, 569 N.E.2d 438 (1991)
- Written by Steven Pacht, JD
Facts
Northway Engineering, Inc. (Northway) (plaintiff) sued Felix Industries, Inc. (Felix) (defendant) seeking payment relating to a project for which Northway was a subcontractor and Felix was the contractor. Felix responded by generally denying Northway’s allegations and asserting two counterclaims. Northway requested a bill of particulars regarding Felix’s counterclaims but Felix refused to provide one (and also ignored all of Northway’s discovery requests), leading the supreme court to issue a preclusion order and dismiss the counterclaims. Nevertheless, Felix sought to use the facts underlying the counterclaims in defending against Northway’s claims. But the supreme court ruled that its preclusion order, which Felix had ignored for five months, barred Felix from offering any defense to Northway’s claims and granted summary judgment to Northway. The appellate division affirmed. Felix appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Wachtler, C.J.)
Dissent (Kaye, J.)
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