Source: https://connecticut.lexroll.com/a-sangivanni-sons-v-f-m-floryan-co-158-conn-467-1969/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 06:03:25+00:00

Document:
A. SANGIVANNI AND SONS v. F. M. FLORYAN AND COMPANY, INC., ET AL.
KING, C.J., ALCORN, HOUSE, COTTER and RYAN, Js.
a mechanic’s lien foreclosure action against the owner of the property which was the subject of the subcontract. The defendants’ claim that the plaintiff’s laches in prosecuting the present application to compel arbitration precluded the granting of it was without merit, since laches is not to be imputed to one who has brought an action at law within the statutory period of limitation. Moreover, the defendants themselves failed to invoke the procedural remedies available to them for speeding the final disposition of the case. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when, after a hearing, it restored the case to the docket during the same term of court as that in which it had been discontinued. As the record failed to disclose that the defendants raised, in the trial court, their claim of lack of verification of the plaintiff’s motion to open and set aside a judgment of nonsuit for failure to appear, this nonjurisdictional infirmity was waived.
Application by the plaintiff for an order directing the defendants to proceed with arbitration, brought to the Superior Court in New Haven County and tried to the court, Doherty, J.; judgment directing the defendants to proceed with arbitration and appeal by the defendants. No error.
John J. McGrath, with whom were John E. Silliman and, on the brief, J. Read Murphy, for the appellants (defendants).
David S. Maclay, with whom, on the brief, was David P. Wolf, for the appellee (plaintiff).
failure to include the firm name of Marsh, Day and Calhoun on the printed assignment list did not excuse the failure of other attorneys who had represented the plaintiff from appearing on the day the case was assigned or from notifying Marsh, Day and Calhoun of the assignment. The court, nevertheless, granted the plaintiff’s motion to open the nonsuit on September 20, 1968.
The trial court, after a trial, rendered judgment on November 18, 1968, directing the parties to proceed with arbitration of such disputes as exist between them pertaining to the contract. The defendants have appealed.
the present action was premature because the work which the plaintiff was obligated to perform was not entirely finished, (6) the plaintiff, contrary to a provision in the contract, did not obtain an interpretation from the architect as to whether or not work allegedly performed, for which the plaintiff claims or will claim extra compensation, was covered in the plans and specifications, and (7) the plaintiff failed to obtain written authorization for the performance of extra work, payment for which the defendants believe the plaintiff will make a claim upon arbitration. The defendants concluded the list of special defenses by alleging that (8) commencement of the action to foreclose the mechanic’s lien constituted a waiver of whatever right the plaintiff may have had to compel arbitration and (9) the plaintiff was guilty of laches in not diligently prosecuting this action to compel arbitration.
sought rescission instead of damages is not before us. Note, 91 A.L.R.2d 936, 942. We are only required to hold under the circumstances that where rescission is not sought by the defrauded party, the arbitration clause remains enforceable.
The arbitration clause in the contract between the parties is sufficiently broad to include a claim for damages based on fraudulent inducement. The claims of the plaintiff are not excluded from that provision merely because they are alleged to have been occasioned by fraud or misrepresentation. See Merritt-Chapman Scott Corporation v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, 387 F.2d 768, 770 (3d Cir.); 5 Am.Jur.2d, Arbitration and Award, 57.5 (Sup. 1969). The defendants’ claim that the plaintiff lost the right to arbitration because it stopped work owing to a dispute and therefore abandoned the contract does not constitute sufficient ground to warrant nonperformance by the defendants of the arbitration obligations. International Brotherhood v. Trudon Platt Motor Lines, Inc., 146 Conn. 17, 20, 147 A.2d 484; Batter Building Materials Co. v. Kirschner, 142 Conn. 1, 10, 11, 110 A.2d 464.
Special defenses three through seven fail to set forth grounds which would invalidate the order of the court in the present case to compel the defendants to proceed with arbitration. We reiterate the rule which applies herein that the question of what is subject to arbitration is for the arbitrators under the broad and all-embracing language of the contract. College Plaza, Inc. v. Harlaco, Inc., 152 Conn. 707, 708, 206 A.2d 832. Specific designation of arbitrable matters is unnecessary where the language of the arbitration clause indicates an intention of the parties to include all controversies which may arise under the principal agreement between them.
The trial court concluded in ruling on the defendants’ eighth special defense that the plaintiff did not elect to waive its right to arbitration by instituting the foreclosure action in the Court of Common Pleas. Waiver is defined to be the intentional relinquishment of a known right. Breen v. Aetna Casualty Surety Co., 153 Conn. 633, 643, 220 A.2d 254. In order to negate the conclusion of the court, it was incumbent upon the defendants to get into the finding such facts as would compel us to conclude that a waiver had been established as a matter of law. Batter Building Materials Co. v. Kirschner, supra, 12. In fact, the plaintiff filed a motion dated August 28, 1968, to stay the proceedings in the mechanic’s lien action pending arbitration. It is apparent that the factual situation on this issue is not that certain and indisputable. The defendants’ position, as urged in their brief, is that the argument of the plaintiff that it was motivated by a desire to protect its lien rights is incomprehensible inasmuch as it knew the defendants were bonded and that it must have been motivated by other causes. It is obvious in the face of the finding that, since the true meaning of the plaintiff’s actions is one of intention under all the circumstances, we cannot hold that, as a matter of law, the plaintiff had waived the right to insist on arbitration.
to them when a party is in default in order to speed the final disposition of the case. As a further aid to the parties in expediting the matter, the court or judge is empowered to hear the application for arbitration either at a short calendar session or as a privileged cause pursuant to General Statutes 52-410. It would appear that the defendants as well had the responsibility of acting with proper diligence to use the procedures available to them for a prompt decision. The burden of proof as to the existence of laches is on the party asserting it; Cleary v. Zoning Board, 153 Conn. 513, 518, 218 A.2d 523; and a “conclusion that a plaintiff has been guilty of laches is one of fact for the trier and not one that can be made by this court, unless the subordinate facts found make such a conclusion inevitable as a matter of law.” Kurzatkowski v. Kurzatkowski, 142 Conn. 680, 684, 116 A.2d 906. Since the defendants could have resorted to the procedural remedies and advantages which could have been promptly invoked by them for any failure of the plaintiff diligently to prosecute the case after instituting suit, it cannot be said that the trial court acted improperly in concluding that the equitable doctrine of laches was unavailable to defeat the cause of action.
which a case is restored. Verification of a motion to restore a case to the docket is not required under Practice Book 191. The restoration of a discontinued case during the same term of court, as was done in this case, is within the discretion of the court. See Dirton v. McCarthy, 149 Conn. 172, 173, 177 A.2d 513; Miller v. Bridgeport Herald Corporation, 134 Conn. 198, 202, 56 A.2d 171. The action of the court in restoring the case to the docket was based on the detailed representations made by counsel in its motion to restore and after a hearing and did no constitute an abuse of discretion.
formal defect, such as the lack of verification of the plaintiff’s motion, may constitute a waiver of this nonjurisdictional infirmity. Without such a timely objection being brought to the attention of the court and the plaintiff, the opportunity to remedy the defect is lost. Thereafter, it cannot be taken advantage of on appeal. State v. Grimes, 154 Conn. 314, 323, 228 A.2d 141; Maltbie, Conn. App. Proc. 49, 51. Since the record fails to disclose that the claim of lack of verification was raised at the time of the hearing in the trial court, it must be regarded as having been waived. Breen v. Larson College, 137 Conn. 152, 156, 75 A.2d 3, 9. “The motion was granted by the court on September 20, 1968, at the same term of court and was within the permissible statutory limitation and the corresponding rule of the Practice Book. The action on the motion rested in the sound discretion of the court. Munch v. Willametz, 156 Conn. 6, 9, 238 A.2d 424. The defendants have failed to show that the court abused its discretion in granting the motion.
 The discontinuance Procedure discussed later in this opinion was apparently an automatic attempt by the court to remove older cases from the docket, and it does not appear from the record that the nonsuit of the plaintiff for failure of counsel to appear at the time the case was assigned for trial was the result of a motion by the defendants.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.