A-21-139, The Alliance Group, Inc. (appellee) v. NGC Group, Inc. (appellant)
Douglas County, District Court, Judge Thomas A. Otepka
Attorney for Appellant: Gregory S. Frayser (Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, L.L.P.)
Attorneys for Appellee: Thomas M. White & Amy S. Jorgensen (White & Jorgensen)
Civil Action: Breach of Contract
Action Taken by Trial Court: Alliance brought a claim against NGC Group and its owner seeking to recover $180,381.82 pursuant to a June 2018 oral promise by the owner of NGC Group to reimburse Alliance for its advance of payroll funding to Alliance’s former client, Acass Systems, LLC. Acass Systems filed for bankruptcy in August 2018 and is not a party to this suit. NGC Group argued that there was no promise made to reimburse Alliance and, even if there was, the enforcement of that oral promise was barred by Nebraska’s statute of frauds because it was a promise to answer for the debt of another and was not supported by a sufficient writing or memorandum. The district court found that the owner of NGC Group, acting on behalf of the company and not in his personal capacity, orally promised to repay Alliance for its advance of payroll funding. The court determined that this oral promise was exempted from the statute of frauds by the “leading object rule” and was therefore enforceable because the principal object of the promise was to promote the business interests of NGC Group. The court found NGC Group liable for the breach of the oral promise and awarded Alliance $180,381.82 in damages.
Assignments of Error on Appeal: NGC Group assigns that the district court erred in (1) determining that Alliance’s claim was not barred by the statute of frauds, (2) applying the leading object rule to except the oral promise from the requirements of the statute of frauds, (3) not limiting Alliance’s damages to $104,721 pursuant to Alliance’s proof of claim filed in Acass Systems’ August 2018 bankruptcy action, and (4) failing to apply the doctrines of claim preclusion and issue preclusion to limit Alliance’s damages to $104,721.