Nuce Acoustic Ceilings & Drywall, Inc. v. DeLesline Construction, Inc.
The Second DCA affirmed a final judgment against a drywall subcontractor after bench trial in a commercial construction contract dispute, writing separately to clarify the distinction between affirmative defenses and general denials. Evidence supporting a general denial is admissible at trial without pleading it as an affirmative defense; only 'confession and avoidance' defenses — which admit the allegations and add new facts — must be specifically pleaded.
Key facts
- Nuce Acoustic Ceilings & Drywall, Inc. (Nuce), a drywall subcontractor, installed drywall in a commercial property under contract with DeLesline Construction, Inc. (DeLesline), the general contractor, and claimed DeLesline owed it $13,688 plus prejudgment interest for additional work not covered by the initial letter of intent.
- Nuce sued DeLesline for breach of contract, breach of implied-in-fact contract, breach of implied-in-law contract, and unjust enrichment, and moved for summary judgment; DeLesline opposed with an affidavit, and the Manatee County Court denied summary judgment.
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Holdings
- There are two classes of defensive pleadings: (1) general denial of an ultimate fact in the plaintiff's complaint; and (2) affirmative defense by way of confession and avoidance — admitting…
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Why it matters
A clean statement of the general denial / affirmative defense distinction that frequently arises in construction, breach-of-contract, and commercial cases. When a subcontractor claims the general contractor owes more… — full analysis with a trial
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