X.L.O. Concrete Corp. v. Rivergate Corp.

X.L.O. (plaintiff), a concrete subcontractor, completed work for Rivergate (defendant) on a Manhattan project, but Rivergate refused to pay the remaining balance and, when sued, argued the contract was unenforceable under New York's antitrust statute because X.L.O. had obtained the job through 'the Club' — a cartel of organized-crime figures and concrete companies that rigged bids and extracted a cut of contracts to guarantee labor peace, using threats of violence or labor unrest to keep control. X.L.O. had joined the Club and paid the required cut before contracting with Rivergate, and Rivergate knew about the Club's activities at the time. The trial court dismissed X.L.O.'s complaint on that basis, but the Appellate Division reinstated it.

Whether a contract that is legal on its face and does not call for an illegal act in its performance is voidable merely because it arose from an antitrust conspiracy.