The mere threat by one party to breach a contract by not delivering merchandise, though wrongful, does not, in and of itself, constitute economic duress. It must also appear that the threatened party could not obtain the goods from another source and the ordinary remedy of an action for breach of contract would be inadequate. In addition, one who seeks to recover based on economic duress must act promptly to make its claim known, and its failure to act can be viewed as a ratification of a contractual modification. Here, the court properly found that plaintiff failed to demonstrate a triable issue of fact as to why an action for breach of contract would have been inadequate at the time of the breach, and why it waited 2 ½ years to bring the action.
Gateway Overseas Inc. v. Sumec Textile & Light Indus. Co., Ltd., NY Slip Op 02342 (1st Dep't April 15, 2021)
