When does the statute of limitations start to run on a tortious interference with contract claim when the breach occurred somewhere on a spectrum of increasingly breach-like behavior? The Appellate Division, First Department, tackled that question in a May 6 decision concerning a long-running dispute involving the work of world-renowned Chinese-French artist Chu Teh-Chun. In S.A.R.L. Galerie Enrico Navarra v. Marlborough Gallery, the First Department agreed with the Supreme Court that plaintiff’s claims for tortious interference with contract and aiding and abetting tortious interference with contract had not expired as a matter of law, because all of the elements of the claims had materialized before the statute of limitations had run its course. The case highlights the challenges of determining when a breach of contract occurred, and the tension between statutes of limitations and the rights of an injured party to bring a claim.
Background
The facts underlying this case go back to 2003, when the plaintiff, Galerie Enrico Navarra (Navarra), contracted with a non-party, the now dead abstract artist Chu Teh-Chun (Chu). Under their agreement, Chu would design 24 ceramic plates, and Navarra would support Chu by, among other things, paying for the production of the plates, helping to promote the sale of the plates, and, ultimately, selling the plates.
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