| Jopling v Shamoon |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 51446(U) [20 Misc 3d 132(A)] |
| Decided on July 8, 2008 |
| Appellate Term, Second Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports. |
Appeal from a judgment of the Justice Court of the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County
(Deborah E. Kooperstein, J.), entered August 11, 2006. The judgment, insofar as appealed from
as limited by the brief, after a nonjury trial, dismissed the action as against defendant Kurt
Hardcastle.
Judgment, insofar as appealed from, reversed without costs and judgment directed to be entered in favor of plaintiff as against defendant Kurt Hardcastle in the principal sum of $2,500.
Upon a review of the record in this small claims action for breach of contract, we find that
there was a meeting of the minds between plaintiff and defendant Kurt Hardcastle which resulted
in an oral contract (see generally Aces Mech. Corp. v Cohen Bros. Realty & Constr.
Corp., 136 AD2d 503 [1988]; Four Seasons Hotels v Vinnik, 127 AD2d 310 [1987]).
At trial, both plaintiff Jane Jopling and defendant Kurt Hardcastle testified that plaintiff left her
antique dresser with Hardcastle and that an agreement existed between them whereby Hardcastle
would pay Jopling the sum of $2,500 upon his sale of the dresser. It is also undisputed by
Hardcastle that he sold the antique dresser to defendant David Shamoon and that Hardcastle
failed to pay plaintiff for the dresser. Accordingly, in dismissing the action as against defendant
Hardcastle, the trial court failed to provide the parties with substantial justice according to the
rules and principles of substantive law (UJCA 1804, 1807; see Williams v Roper, 269
AD2d 125 [2000]; Ross v Friedman, 269 AD2d 584 [2000]). We note that plaintiff raises
no issue with respect to [*2]the court's dismissal of the action as
against defendant Shamoon.
Consequently, the judgment, insofar as appealed from, is reversed, and plaintiff is awarded
the principal sum of $2,500 as against defendant Hardcastle.
Rudolph, P.J., McCabe and Tanenbaum, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: July 8, 2008