City Check Cashing, Inc. v. Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

LONG, J.

This case requires us to plumb the relationship between the Uniform Commercial Code (Code or U.C.C.) and the law of negligence in connection with the return of a check by a drawee bank within the time allowed by the Code. The question presented is whether the drawee bank’s dealings with a non-customer in an unsolicited telephone conversation breached a common law duty, rendering it potentially liable for the loss.

I

The facts of the case are largely undisputed. In 1994, plaintiff, City Check Cashing, Inc., was a check cashing service located in…