Hooper Assoc. v. AGS Computers

In Hooper Assoc. v. AGS Computers (74 NY2d 487, 548 NE2d 903, 549 NYS2d 365 [1989]), the Court of Appeals stated that "when a party is under no legal duty to indemnify, a contract assuming that obligation must be strictly construed to avoid reading into it a duty which the parties did not intend to be assumed. The promise should not be found unless it can be clearly implied from the language and purpose of the entire agreement and the surrounding facts and circumstances" (at 491-492 [citations omitted], citing Levine v. Shell Oil Co., 28 NY2d 205, 211, 269 NE2d 799, 321 NYS2d 81 [1971]; Kurek v. Port Chester Hous. Auth., 18 NY2d 450, 456, 223 NE2d 25, 276 NYS2d 612 [1966]).