A judge has ruled that a real estate agent's lawsuit claiming the Greater Haverhill Foundation and its former director cheated him out of a sales commission can go to a jury trial.
Agent Ronald D'Arcangelo of Re/Max Main Street Associates said he was cheated out of a commission in 2005 on the $4.6 million sale of a building that eventually became the Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital Building. He is suing the foundation, a business group, and its former director Sally Cerasuolo-O'Rorke for $230,000 plus attorney's fees. Cerasuolo-O'Rorke was president of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce at the time of the sale.
D'Arcangelo said he represented Dr. Alfred Arcidi of Whittier Health Network as the buyer's agent for the sale of the property at 145 Ward Hill Ave.
D'Arcangelo is seeking damages equal to 5 percent of the sale price, although in court papers he acknowledged he agreed to broker the sale for 4 percent, which he also said he would be willing to split with one of Arcidi's companies.
Superior Court Judge Christine Roach's ruling is in response to a motion by the defendants to have the case dismissed by summary judgement. Unsuccessful summary judgement dismissals are typically followed by cash settlement or trial.
The judge dismissed seven counts in the case, but ruled D'Arcangelo may go forward on claims of "intentional interference with contractional relations" against the foundation and Cerasuolo-O'Rorke. A trial date has not been set.
Cerasuolo-O'Rorke, who at the time of the transaction was not a certified real estate agent, represented the foundation, which owned the building. The foundation is an arm of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce.
Tax filings in the suit show Cerasuolo-O'Rorke was paid $191,273 in salary compensation by the foundation and chamber for the year in which the Ward Hill property was sold. That was also her last year as chief administrator for both organizations.
Cerasuolo-O'Rorke resigned from the chamber and foundation in 2007 to run for mayor, finishing third in the race that was won by Mayor James Fiorentini.
Reached on her cell phone, Cerasuolo-O'Rorke declined comment about the suit. Richard Sheehan, a Haverhill lawyer who is president of the foundation, did not return a phone message left with his secretary.
D'Arcangelo's lawsuit, which is filed in Lawrence Superior Court, accuses Cerasuolo-O'Rorke and the foundation of "engaging in a fraudulent scheme knowingly, and for purpose of securing its own pecuniary and financial gain." The multi-count complaint also accuses Cerasuolo-O'Rorke of violating Massachusetts real estate law.
The judge dismissed claims that the foundation and Cerasuolo-O'Rorke interfered with a contract because there was no written agreement between D'Arcangelo and Arcidi, according to affidavits and hearing testimony in the case.
