Winer v. Valentino

995 N.Y.S.2d 256 (2014)

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Winer v. Valentino

New York Supreme Court
995 N.Y.S.2d 256 (2014)

  • Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD

Facts

Joseph Valentino Jr. (Valentino) worked for homebuilder Jean M. Valentino, Inc. (defendants), which did business under the tradename J & J Enterprises. Valentino signed a contract to build a new home for Ronald Winer (plaintiff) identifying J & J Enterprises as the builder without saying that was a tradename of a corporation or identifying Valentino as a corporate officer or representative. Instead, the body of the contract used “he” and “his” throughout to refer to the builder. Valentino signed the contract, specifications sheet, and a subsequent acknowledgement of a financial transaction without referring to any agency or representative capacity. As a result, when Winer sued for breach of contract and warranty, he named only Valentino as the homebuilder, stating Valentino was doing business under the assumed name J & J Enterprises. Upon learning that was the trade name of a corporation, Winer amended the complaint to add Jean M. Valentino, Inc., as a potentially liable party. Valentino and the corporation moved to dismiss the claims against Valentino, arguing he could not be personally liable as the agent of a disclosed corporate principal. The trial court dismissed the claims against Valentino, and Winer appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Rose, J.)

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