Welch v. Di Blasi

Order unanimously affirmed without costs. Memorandum: Supreme Court properly denied the motion of James V. Welch (plaintiff) to strike defendants’ answer and counterclaims based on the doctrine of unclean hands. Contrary to defendants’ contention, plaintiff did not waive the right to assert that doctrine by failing to *965plead it as an affirmative defense (see, Richards v Levy, 40 AD2d 1055, 1055-1056). We agree with defendants, however, that the doctrine of unclean hands does not apply here. Under that doctrine, “one who has executed an agreement to perpetrate a fraud has ‘forfeited his right,…