Electrical Contractors, Inc. v. 50 Morgan Hospitality Group, LLC

Citations

• 211 Conn. App. 724

Syllabus

The plaintiff subcontractor sought to recover damages from, among others, the defendant general contractor, G Co., for, inter alia, breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The plaintiff entered into a contract with G Co. in connection with a construction project for the renovation of a property owned by the named defendant, M Co. In its operative complaint, the plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that G Co. had failed to pay for materials and services that the plaintiff had provided. In its special defenses, G Co. asserted that language in the parties' contract made clear that the G Co.'s obligation to pay the plaintiff was dependent upon G Co. first receiving payment from M Co. Specifically, the contract stated that the plaintiff expressly agreed that payment by M Co. to G Co. was a ''condition precedent'' to G Co.'s obligation to make partial or final payments to the plaintiff. G Co. filed a motion for summary judgment on the counts against it based on that contractual language, arguing that it had no duty to pay the plaintiff because it had not yet received payment from M Co. The trial court granted G Co.'s motion and rendered summary judgment in favor of G Co., and the plaintiff appealed to this court. 1. The trial court properly granted G Co.'s motion for summary judgment as to the plaintiff's breach of contract claim: the clear and unambiguous language of the parties' contract provided that G Co. was not obligated to pay the plaintiff until it received payment from M Co.; moreover, this court declined the plaintiff's invitation to find ambiguity in the payment provision and to interpret it to mean that G Co.'s obligation to pay the plaintiff merely was postponed for a reasonable period of time; furthermore, the plaintiff did not cite any binding appellate authority to support its assertion that clauses such as the one at issue in the present case are disfavored in Connecticut and, more particularly, in the construction