| Westchester County Corr. Officers Benevolent Assn., Inc. v County ofWestchester |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 07106 [99 AD3d 998] |
| October 24, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Westchester County Correction Officers Benevolent Association,Inc., et al., Appellants, v County of Westchester et al.,Respondents. |
—[*1] Robert F. Meehan, County Attorney, White Plains, N.Y. (Frederick Sullivan and Justin R.Adin of counsel), for respondents.
In an action to recover damages for breach of contract, the plaintiffs appeal from a judgmentof the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Smith, J.), dated December 7, 2010, which, upon anorder of the same court (Colabella, J.) entered January 22, 2010, inter alia, denying that branch oftheir cross motion which was for summary judgment on the complaint, and upon the granting ofthe defendants' motion pursuant to CPLR 4401, made at the close of evidence, for judgment as amatter of law, is in favor of the defendants and against them, dismissing the complaint.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiffs, the Westchester County Correction Officers Benevolent Association, Inc., andindividually named retired correction officers, commenced this action to recover damages forbreach of contract based on the defendants' failure to pay the individual plaintiffs benefitsequivalent to those provided by the Worker's Compensation Law for loss of earning capacity dueto permanent partial disability. The plaintiffs contend that any correction officer who has beenreceiving disability benefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-c and who thenreceives a disability retirement pension upon the County of Westchester's application is entitled,upon retirement, to benefits equivalent to those provided by the Workers' Compensation Law forloss of earning capacity due to permanent partial disability. The plaintiffs argue that the parties'intention at the time that the collective bargaining agreement (hereinafter the CBA) wasnegotiated was to assure that the correction officers were afforded all of their rights under theWorkers' Compensation Law. The plaintiffs admit in the complaint that the CBA "is silent as toawards for permanent partial disability." The defendants contend, inter alia, that, since the CBAis silent as to such awards, the correction officers are not entitled, upon retirement, to Workers'Compensation awards for permanent partial disability.
The Supreme Court properly denied that branch of the plaintiffs' cross motion which was forsummary judgment on the complaint. A breach of contract cause of action fails as a matter of lawin the absence of any showing that a specific provision of the contract was breached (see Trump on the Ocean, LLC v State ofNew York, 79 AD3d 1325, 1326 [2010]). Here, the plaintiffs failed to [*2]identify a specific provision in the CBA that requires the defendantsto pay benefits equivalent to those paid pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Law for loss ofearning capacity due to permanent partial disability. Accordingly, the plaintiffs failed to establishtheir prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.
The Supreme Court properly granted the defendants' motion pursuant to CPLR 4401, made atthe close of evidence, for judgment as a matter of law. "[W]hen the terms of a written contractare clear and unambiguous, the intent of the parties must be found within the four corners of thecontract, giving practical interpretation to the language employed and the parties' reasonableexpectations. Thus, a written agreement that is complete, clear and unambiguous on its face mustbe enforced according to the plain meaning of its terms" (Dysal, Inc. v Hub Props. Trust, 92 AD3d 826, 827 [2012] [citationsomitted]). Furthermore, "[i]nterpretation of an unambiguous contract provision is a function forthe court, and matters extrinsic to the agreement may not be considered when the intent of theparties can be gleaned from the face of the instrument. A court should not imply a term which theparties themselves failed to include" (2632 Realty Dev. Corp. v 299 Main St., LLC, 94 AD3d 743, 745[2012] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]). Here, the CBA is complete, clear, andunambiguous on its face. The specific provisions of the CBA do not provide for the retirementbenefits sought by the plaintiffs, and their reliance upon generalized language in the CBA isunavailing (see generally Modulars By Design v DBJ Dev. Corp., 174 AD2d 885, 886[1991]).
The plaintiffs' remaining contentions are without merit. Rivera, J.P., Chambers, Hall andRoman, JJ., concur.