Opinion ID: 8407625
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Karnick Agreement

Text: The complaint in this case is based entirely on one document: the Karnick Agreement. The complaint does not allege that a series of documents, or some other agreement, gave rise to a valid and enforceable agreement to arbitrate. The complaint simply asks the court to declare the Karnick Agreement valid, and to order Bodylines to participate in arbitration as directed by the Karnick Agreement. Bodylines and Opals agree that the signature of Sautter on the Kar-nick Agreement was “cut and pasted”-—-in other words, that it is a forgery, not a genuine signature. 3 “Under [New York] State law and general contract law, a forged signature renders a contract void ab initio. Because there can be no meeting of the minds of the parties when a forgery has been perpetrated, no contract existed in the case at hand.” Orlosky v. Empire Sec. Sys., 230 A.D.2d 401, 403, 657 N.Y.S.2d 840, 842 (N.Y.App.Div.1997) (internal citations and footnote omitted). Because the Karnick Agreement is void and unenforceable, Opals is not entitled to the relief sought in its complaint: a declaration that the Karnick Agreement is valid, and an injunction forcing Bodylines to comply with its provisions. As the district court noted, Opals did not move to amend its complaint when it discovered that the Karnick Agreement was a forgery, and if Opals’ suggestion that the court consider the other purported agreements was intended to be construed as a motion to amend the complaint, such a motion would have been untimely. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). Accordingly, the district court was correct in granting summary judgment in favor of Bodylines and dismissing Opals’ case.