Ho v Star Contrs., Inc.

Holding The court granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs on their breach of contract claim, finding that the defendants repudiated the contract by demanding additional payment and abandoning the project. Additionally, the court reversed the lower court’s decision to preclude plaintiffs from testifying at trial, deeming the sanction an improvident exercise of discretion.

The court’s words

Plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment on their breach of contract claim because they proved as a matter of law that defendants repudiated the contract.

2026 NY Slip Op 05908, at the official text

the record establishes that defendants repudiated the contract by issuing a change order requesting additional payments followed by a threat to not return to the job

2026 NY Slip Op 05908, at the official text

The extreme sanction was inappropriate given the absence of evidence that plaintiffs had engaged in the type of willful, contumacious, bad faith conduct

2026 NY Slip Op 05908, at the official text