ICC Chemical Corp. v. Freeman, 93-2555
Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
Citation | 640 So.2d 92 |
Decision Date | 05 July 1994 |
Docket Number | No. 93-2555,93-2555 |
Parties | 19 Fla. L. Weekly D1436 ICC CHEMICAL CORPORATION, Appellant, v. Michael J. FREEMAN, etc., Appellees. |
Jeffrey C. Roth, Coral Gables, for appellant.
Judy D. Shapiro, Miami, for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and NESBITT and LEVY, JJ.
ICC Chemical Corporation (ICC) appeals from a partial final summary judgment in favor of Michael J. Freeman (Freeman). We affirm.
ICC contracted with Pacific Trading Overseas Corporation (Pacific Trading) to purchase polypropylene. Freeman, acting as attorney for Pacific Trading, notified ICC via facsimile that Pacific Trading had obtained the product but it would only perform under the contracts if ICC agreed to pay a higher price. ICC agreed to pay the higher price, and subsequently renegotiated the contracts. After Pacific Trading delivered the goods, ICC refused to pay the increased purchase price and paid only the price originally agreed upon. Pacific Trading filed an arbitration claim against ICC to enforce the contract modifications. ICC counterclaimed for breach of contract, claiming economic coercion and bad faith, alleging that the contract modifications were procured by fraud and bad faith partly through the facsimile notification of price increases that Freeman sent to ICC on Pacific Trading's behalf. The arbitration concluded in favor of Pacific Trading, finding that ICC owed Pacific Trading $212,000 on the contracts as modified. This award was later approved and confirmed by a United States District Court in ICC Chemical Corp. against Pacific Trading Corp., No. 92 Civ. 7569 (S.D.N.Y. March 24, 1993). In the instant action, ICC brings suit against Freeman individually for alleged fraudulent misrepresentations contained in Pacific Trading's facsimile notification of price increases. On Freeman's motion, the trial court granted summary judgment against ICC on the basis that ICC's fraud action was barred by res judicata as a consequence of the prior arbitration adjudication. ICC appeals.
The issue in this case is whether res judicata operates to bar ICC's fraud claim against Freeman individually, based on the prior arbitration in favor of Pacific Trading, for whom Freeman worked. The doctrine of res judicata provides that a final judgment or decree on the merits rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction is conclusive of the rights of the parties and their privies, and constitutes a bar...
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