Appeal from a judgment of the District Court of Nassau County, First District (Michael A. Ciaffa, J.), entered June 28, 2010. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $5,000.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, without costs, and the action is dismissed.

Plaintiff commenced this small claims action to recover the principal sum of $5,000 against his former employer. Plaintiff claims that defendant was required to make a contribution to his SEP IRA account in 2008. At a nonjury trial, plaintiff failed to establish that, in 2008, defendant had executed the 5305-SEP form issued by the Internal Revenue Service, which authorizes an employer to make such contributions to its employees' SEP IRA accounts and defendant's witness testified that, in fact, there had been no agreement to make contributions to defendant's employees' SEP IRA accounts in 2008. Thus, plaintiff failed to establish defendant's liability. As substantial justice was not done between the parties in accordance with the rules and principles of substantive law (UDCA 1804, 1807), the judgment is reversed and the action dismissed.

LaCava, J.P., Molia and Iannacci, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: April 02, 2012