Norris v. Grosvenor Marketing Ltd.

632 F. Supp. 1193 (S.D.N.Y. 1986) · United States District Court for the Southern District of New York · April 7, 1986 · No. No. 85 Civ. 3194 (CHT)

Summary

The court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment, holding that collateral estoppel barred the plaintiffs' claims arising from a 1969 distributorship agreement. The court concluded that the issues concerning breach, fiduciary duties, tortious interference, and future payments had already been fully litigated in an arbitration proceeding and that the plaintiffs had a full and fair opportunity to contest them. The court denied defendants' motion for attorneys' fees and did not reach the statute-of-limitations or failure-to-state-a-claim arguments.

Holdings

  1. Under New York law, collateral estoppel may be invoked when the issue was necessarily decided in a prior adjudication and the party to be bound had a full and fair opportunity to litigate it, even if the party asserting estoppel was not a party to the prior proceeding.
  2. Collateral estoppel barred all of plaintiffs' claims because they were premised on the same issues litigated in the arbitration: Cooper's breach of the 1969 Agreement, the alleged breach of fiduciary duty, and plaintiffs' claimed right to present and future payments from the distributorship.
  3. Plaintiffs had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the pertinent issues in the arbitration.

Questions Presented

  1. Whether collateral estoppel under New York law barred plaintiffs from litigating claims against defendants who were not parties to the prior arbitration when the claims rested on issues previously litigated by Norris against Cooper.
  2. Whether the prior arbitration and confirmed award adjudicated the same contractual, fiduciary-duty, and future-payment issues asserted in the present action.
  3. Whether the plaintiffs had a full and fair opportunity to litigate those issues in the prior arbitration.
  4. Whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment based on collateral estoppel.

Disposition

other

Cases Cited (16)

  • Kremer v. Chemical Construction Corp., 456 U.S. 461, 466 n.6, 102 S. Ct. 1883, 1889-90 n.6, 72 L. Ed. 2d 262 (1982)(followed)
  • Wilson v. Steinhoff, 718 F.2d 550, 552 (2d Cir. 1983)(followed)
  • Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 99 S. Ct. 645, 58 L. Ed. 2d 552 (1979)(followed)
  • Collard v. Village of Flower Hill, 604 F. Supp. 1318, 1322-23 (E.D.N.Y. 1984), aff'd, 759 F.2d 205 (2d Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1059 (1986)(followed)
  • Ufheil Construction Co. v. Town of New Windsor, 478 F. Supp. 766, 768 (S.D.N.Y. 1979), aff'd, 636 F.2d 1204 (2d Cir. 1980)(followed)
  • American Insurance Co. v. Messinger, 43 N.Y.2d 184, 189-90, 401 N.Y.S.2d 36, 39, 371 N.E.2d 798, 801-02 (1977)(followed)
  • Ritchie v. Landau, 475 F.2d 151, 154-56 (2d Cir. 1973)(followed)
  • Schwartz v. Public Administrator of the County of Bronx, 24 N.Y.2d 65, 71, 298 N.Y.S.2d 955, 960, 246 N.E.2d 725, 729 (1969)(followed)
  • Ryan v. New York Telephone Co., 62 N.Y.2d 494, 501, 478 N.Y.S.2d 823, 827, 467 N.E.2d 487, 491 (1984)(followed)
  • Gilberg v. Barbieri, 53 N.Y.2d 285, 291, 441 N.Y.S.2d 49, 50, 423 N.E.2d 807, 808 (1981)(followed)

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