Negligence and Fraudulent Misrepresentation Causes of Action Can Not Be Based on Allegations of Breach of Contract 

In determining Supreme Court should have dismissed the negligence and fraudulent misrepresentations cause of action in a complaint based upon breach of contract, the Third Department wrote:

“[A] simple breach of contract claim is not to be considered a tort unless a legal duty independent of the contract itself has been violated . . .[, which] legal duty must spring from circumstances extraneous to, and not constituting elements of, the contract” ….  Plaintiffs have not demonstrated any special relationship or legal duty aside from the contractual relationship….   The  negligence and  fraudulent misrepresentation claims are based upon  the same  alleged wrongful conduct as the breach of contract claim, rendering them duplicative … . Rorok v Moore’s Flatwork…, 515459, 3rd Dept, 5-30-13