Oral Agreement With Mayor Is Not Binding On Village

In an action to collect additional benefits based upon an oral agreement with the former Mayor of the Village of Malverne the Appellate Division reversed a jury finding that a contract existed. In Garrigan v. Incorporated Village of Malverne the court held : “such contract was insufficient to support the plaintiff’s claims since, absent a resolution from the Village Board reducing the oral contract to writing, the Village cannot be bound….”

Another issue in the case was whether other aspects of the claim were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The court noted the statute “never began to run since the Village Board did not specifically reject plaintiff’s November 2001 request….” Thus, the court effectively found that failing to formally reject a claim allows the claim to survive.