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Macomber v. Travelers Property and Casualty Corp.9/3/2002
enforcement'). 'The covenant of good faith and fair dealing presupposes that the terms and purpose of the contract are agreed upon by the parties and that what is in dispute is a party's discretionary application or interpretation of a contract term.' Neiditz v. Housing Authority, 43 Conn. Sup. 283, 294, 654 A.2d 812 (1994), aff'd, 231 Conn. 598, 651 A.2d 1295 (1995). In accordance with these authorities, the existence of a contract between the parties is a necessary antecedent to any claim of breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.'' (Emphasis added.) Hoskins v. Titan Value Equities Group, Inc., 252 Conn. 789, 793, 749 A.2d 1144 (2000).
As our case law makes clear, no claim for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing will lie for conduct occurring prior to, or during, the formation of a contract. In the present case, the plaintiffs repeatedly alleged that the defendants made material misrepresentations and omissions of fact regarding the structured settlements that induced them to enter into the agreements at issue. Because the challenged conduct underlying the plaintiffs' complaint thus took place at the negotiation and execution stage, rather than at the performance stage of their contracts, the defendants owed the plaintiffs no duty of good faith and fair dealing. In the absence of any other identifiable conduct that occurred subsequent to the contracts' formation and arose independent of the defendants' initial misrepresentations, we conclude that the plaintiffs have alleged insufficient facts upon which to base a claim for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. Accordingly, count one of the plaintiffs' complaint should be stricken.
B. Count Two
Count two asserted that the defendants owed the plaintiffs a fiduciary duty, which they breached by virtue of the conduct described throughout the complaint. The defendants argue, to the contrary, that the '' laintiffs make no allegations . . . that conceivably could give rise to a fiduciary relationship ... much less any breach thereof.'' We agree with the defendants.
''It is well settled that 'a fiduciary or confidential relationship is characterized by a unique degree of trust and confidence between the parties, one of whom has superior knowledge, skill or expertise and is under a duty to represent the interests of the other.' . . . Konover Development Corp. v. Zeller, [228 Conn. 206, 219, 635 A.2d 798 (1994)]; Dunham v. Dunham, 204 Conn. 303, 322, 528 A.2d 1123 (1987); Alaimo v. Royer, 188 Conn. 36, 41, 448 A.2d 207 (1982); Harper v. Adametz, 142 Conn. 218, 225, 113 A.2d 136 (1955). Although this court has 'refrained from defining a fiduciary relationship in precise detail and in such a manner as to exclude new situations'; Harper v. Adametz, supra, 225; we have recognized that not all business relationships implicate the duty of a fiduciary. Hemingway v. Coleman, 49 Conn. 390, 391 (1881). In particular instances, certain relationships, as a matter of law, do not impose upon either party the duty of a fiduciary.'' Hi-Ho Tower, Inc. v. Com-Tronics, Inc., 255 Conn. 20, 38, 761 A.2d 1268 (2000).
Even when construed in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the complaint in the present case alleged no more than that the plaintiffs enjoyed a contractual relationship with the defendants, whereby the defendants agreed to procure an annuity at a certain cost and worth a certain value in order to fund the plaintiffs' structured settlements. Although this relationship imposed upon the defendants a duty to act in accordance with the terms of the settlements, it was not marked by the ''unique degree of trust and confidence'' typically characteristic of a fiduciary relationship. Id.
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