On April 16, 2026, the First Department issued a decision in Metropolitan Partners Group Admin., LLC v. Nerney, 2026 NY Slip Op. 02340, holding that a fraud claim was not duplicative of a breach of contract claim because the alleged misrepresentations were collateral to the contract, explaining:
A misrepresentation of present fact, unlike a misrepresentation of future intent to perform under the contract, is collateral to the contract, even though it may have induced the plaintiff to sign it, and therefore involves a separate breach of duty. Thus, a plaintiff may maintain a fraud cause of action in the alternative to a breach of contract claim where the fraud cause of action was collateral to the contract regardless of whether the causes of action sought the same damages. Accordingly, plaintiffs will be permitted to pursue their fraud claims in addition to their breach of contract claims at this early stage of the litigation.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).