Fraud Claim Dismissed as Duplicative of Contract Claim

On January 27, 2016, the Second Department issued a decision in Doukas v. Ballard, 2016 NY Slip Op. 00474, ordering the dismissal of a fraud claim as duplicative of the plaintiff's breach of contract claim, explaining:

[T]he alleged misrepresentations set forth in the causes of action alleging fraud against [the defendant]—that [he] schemed to defraud the plaintiff . . . out of the fruits of a certain contract formed in 1995—are not sufficiently distinct from the claims that [the defendant] breached that contract so as to constitute separate causes of action. Not only did the fraud causes of action asserted against [the defendant] arise out of identical circumstances as the causes of action alleging breach of contract, but they were based upon identical allegations, and did not allege that a misrepresentation resulted in any loss independent of the damages allegedly incurred for breach of contract; indeed, the damages sought were identical.

(Internal citations omitted) (emphasis added).