International Ore & Fertilizer Corp. v. SGS Control Services, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
38 F.3d 1279 (2d Cir. 1994)
International Ore & Fertilizer Corp. (Interore) (defendant) contracted to ship fertilizer for SGS Control Services, Inc. (SGS) (plaintiff), but Interore's ship wasn't clean and the cargo became contaminated. SGS sued for both breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation about the ship's cleanliness; the trial court dismissed the contract claim but awarded SGS damages on the misrepresentation claim. Interore appealed the misrepresentation ruling, while SGS never separately appealed the dismissal of its contract claim; Interore then argued the appellate court couldn't even consider the contract claim since SGS hadn't filed a cross- appeal.
Whether an appellee who did not file a cross-appeal may seek to sustain a judgment on grounds other than those raised by its opponent's appeal.