Holland v 115 Meacham Ave. Corp.

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Holland v 115 Meacham Ave. Corp. 2010 NY Slip Op 33977(U) September 20, 2010 Sup Ct, Nassau County Docket Number: 014957/04 Judge: Michele M. Woodard Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various state and local government websites. These include the New York State Unified Court System's E-Courts Service, and the Bronx County Clerk's office. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. [* 1] SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NASSAU -------------------------------------------------------------------------x GREGORY L. HOLLAND MICHELE M. WOODARD J.S.C. TRlAL/IAS Part 12 Index No.: 014957/04 Motion Seq. Nos.: 03, 04 & 08 Plaintiff, -against- 115 MEACHAM AVENUE CORP., ROSA POLLATOS a/k/a ROSA KARANASOS, HAMILTON EQUITY AND ASSOCIATES CORP., ESTHER SERRANO, G.E. ABSTRACT, INC., MARIA KARRAS and LEARIE WILSON, Defendants. DECISION AND ORDER -------------------------------------------------------------------------x ( Papers Read on this Motion: Defendants 115 Meacham and Maria Karras's Notice of Motion Defendants Hamilton Equity and Rosa Pollatos's Notice of Motion Plaintiffs Notice of Motion Plaintiffs Memorandum of Law and Opposition to Karra's Summary Judgment Motion Plaintiffs Memorandum of Law and Opposition to Pollatos' Summary Judgment MotionAffidavit of Anthony Ippolito in Support of Plaintiffs Motion Defendants Hamilton Equity, Maria Karras and Rosa Karanasos's Affirmation in Opposition Plaintiffs Reply Affirmation 03 04 08 xx xx xx xx xx In motion sequence numbers three and four, defendants 115 Meacham Avenue Corp. ("115"), Maria Karras, ("Ms. Karras"), Rosa Pol-latos a/k/a Rosa Karanasos ("Ms. Karanasos") and Hamilton Equity and Associates Corp. ("Hamilton") move for an order, pursuant to CPLR §3212, for summary judgment and attorney fees/costs. In motion sequence number eight, the plaintiff moves to enforce a so-ordered stipulation in which the defendants were directed to turn over/exchange discovery. -1- [* 2] Plaintiff contends he was a partner with defendant Ms. Karanasos in Hamilton Equity and Associates Corp., hereinafter referred to as "Hamilton," and defendants have prevented plaintiff from receiving his fair share of profits in the partnership. Plaintiff contends he and Ms. Karanasos had, by oral agreement, formed a partnership in which they, plaintiff and Karanasos bought and sold property. Plaintiff contends he was an experienced real estate broker who showed Ms. Karanasos "the ropes" and with his, assistance, Ms. Karanasos became a licensed mortgage broker. Plaintiff contends they formed Hamilton to buy and sell commercial properties. Ms. Karanasos and Hamilton contend that plaintiff is not a partner in Hamilton since, among other things, the plaintiff is not listed on the tax returns of Hamilton nor the certificate of incorporation (see Exhibit A annexed to Karanasos and Hamilton's motion). Ms. Karras contends she had no business with plaintiff, and she, Ms. Karras, merely purchased property known as 115 Meacham Avenue, Elmont, New York and formed the corporate entity, defendant 115 Avenue Corp. Plaintiff contends Ms. Karras is the sister-in-law of Ms. Karanasos and Ms. Karras purchased 115 Meacham with defendants' capital as a "ghost" or bogus purchaser as part of defendants' plan to deprive plaintiff of his share of profits in Hamilton. As to Ms. Karras, one who aids and abets breach of a fiduciary duty is liable for that breach as well, even if he or she had no independent fiduciary obligation to the allegedly injured party, if the alleged aider and abettor rendered substantial assistance to the alleged offending fiduciary in the course of effecting the alleged breach of duty (see Velazquez v Decaudin, 49 AD3d 712 [2d Dept 2008]). A claim for aiding and abetting a breach of a fiduciary duty requires proof that the aider or abettor substantially assisted the party in breach (see Kaufman v Cohen, 307 AD2d 113 [1st Dept 2003]). Plaintiffs claim is that Ms. Karras was or is a "straw" owner of 115 Meacham Avenue which ,, was pumped up by the monies of defendant Ms. Karanasos to defraud plaintiff. Plaintiff, as an alleged partner with Ms. Karanasos, alleges he and Ms. Karanasos were in a fiduciary relationship (see Meinhard v Salmon, 249 NY 458 [1928]). Plaintiffs allegation that Ms. Karras substantially aided defendants and Ms. Karanasos specifically in breaching Ms. Karras' fiduciary duty towards plaintiff, i.e., Ms. Karras helped Ms. Karanasos deprive plaintiff of profits from the purchase of 115 Meacham -2- [* 3] Avenue. Thus, plaintiffs' allegations against Ms. Karras are viable at this point A partnership agreement may be oral (Missan v Schoenfeld, 95 AD2d i 9 [ 1 8 ls Dept 1983]). Under NewYork law, parties are free to enter into a binding contract ,,,;th . . . "1 out memonahzmg their agreement in a fully executed document; this ability to contract orally rern . . . ams even 1f the parties contemplate a writing to evidence their agreement and the mere intention to co . Illm1t the agreement to writing will not prevent a contract formation prior to the execution (see Winsto . n v Media/are Entertainment Corp., 777 F2d 78 [2d Circuit 1986]; Delyanis v Dyna-Empire L d · nc., 465 FS upp2 170 [EDNY, 2006]). Under New York law, oral agreements are binding and enforceable abs . f ent a clear expression o the parties' intent to be bound only by writing (Wisdom Import Sales Co., LLc L b . C v a att Brewing o., Ltd, 339 F3d 101 [Second Circuit 2003]). Receipt by a person of a share of the profits of a business is prima faci .d h e ev1 ence that t e person was a partner (Partnership Law§ 11, subd. 4; Martin v Peyton, 246 NY 213 [ ] 1927 ). As long as an oral agreement may be fairly and reasonably interpreted h . b sue that it may e .k performed within a year, the Statute of Frauds will not act as a bar however un expected, unh e1 or y, b . even improbable that such performance will occur during that time frame (see C ron v Hargro r17a ncs, Inc., 91 NY2d 362 [1998]). Here, the lack of a written partnership contract wo ld . h u not violate t e Statute of Frauds. nk ( E hib" p ove o see x it annexed to plaintiffs affidavit in opposition) which indicate plaintiff appeared t b . o e a partner m Hamilton. Plaintiff also offered the affidavit of Anthony L. Ippolito (dated ,. . . . .iv.iay 13 , 2010). Mr. Ippo 1 1to is a CPA, and he states he examined certain documents which showed plaintiff . . f: . was a pnnc1p1 actor m e d h d Hamilton since plaintiff made payments to employees of Hamilton, to vendo rs an contractors, s are in the profits of Hamilton and had a managerial position in Hamilton. Plaintiff has offered the affidavits of Thomas V. Pantelis and Greg Grab Thus, plaintiff has offered enoughto, at least, raise issues of fact that h" d"d an oral partners ip i exist. A court may hold a summary judgment motion in abeyance pending furth facts essential to justify opposition of the motion may exist but cannot be st t d . h h er discovery w en t e a e (CPLR §3212[f]; Murray v ANB Corp., 74 AD3d 1548 [3d Dept 2010]). -3- • [* 4] Denial of summary judgment because discovery remains outstanding requires a showing that the request for additional discovery is calculated to yield facts that would warrant denial of summary judgment (Town of Brookhaven v Mascia, 38 AD3d 758[2d Dept 2007]). In the opinion of this court, plaintiff has, on the present record, raised enough issues of fact to prevent the court from granting defendants' summary judgment motion. Also, plaintiff does raise the issue of incomplete discovery. Plaintiff also argues that the defendants are in possession of many partnership documents that would demonstrate plaintiffs position. Therefore, he alleges the summary judgment requests herein are premature. The court must agree and the defendants' motions are denied. As to plaintiffs motion to enforce a so-ordered stipulation, the court will order a conference in chambers in which all parties shall attend and where this court shall direct, upon the threat of sanctions, full compliance with the previous orders of this court for meaningful relevant discovery to be accomplished. This court shall set forth exactly how this will be accomplished by the parties (if they have not already so complied). Thus, plaintiffs motion is granted only to this extent. It is hereby ORDERED, that the parties are directed to appear on September 27, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. before the undersigned. This constitutes the Decision and Order of the Court. DATED: September 20, 2010 Mineola,N.Y.11501 ENTER: n ~ /\ ~ HON:MiCHELEtfi?Woo.6ARD J.S.C. e.N,.ERED H:\Holland v 115 Meacham Avenue. wpd I SEP 2 3 701\'l ~,, NASSAU COUNTY, COUNTY CLERK'S OF_t!9e -4-

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