2013

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In Gervais v. Laino, plaintiff sought to recover for injuries inflicted by defendant’s dog.  The court held that plaintiff’s complaint should have been dismissed. Plaintiff stated that while walking in Central Park, she saw the dog, whose hind paw was caught in a fence and who was wailing in pain.  The parties apparently disputed whether…

Read More The Case of the Ungrateful Dog
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In Hall v. United Founders, Ltd., a dog bite case, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed a summary judgment for defendant dismissing plaintiff’s complaint. Plaintiff sued after being attacked by a dog being dept by a construction site night watchman. Defendant United Founders, a general contractor, was constructing buildings on two adjacent properties.  It hired…

Read More Dog Bite Case Continues; Issue of Fact Existed as to Awareness of Offending Dog’s Vicious Propensities
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In a recent decision (Sloth v. Constellation Brands), the Western District of New York declined to give collateral estoppel effect to the findings of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). Plaintiff alleged that she was subjected to sexual harassment at work.  The WCB denied her benefits, finding in part that she made false…

Read More Workers’ Compensation Board Findings Not Entitled to Collateral Estoppel Effect in Sexual Harassment Case
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In Blatt v. L’Pogee, Inc., the Appellate Division, Second Department, recently held that the trial court properly denied summary judgment to defendant in this trip-and-fall case. Plaintiff, a salesperson employed by defendants as an independent contractor, claimed that he tripped and fell on a hazardous condition created by another independent contractor salesperson employed by defendants.…

Read More Summary Judgment Properly Denied to Defendant in Trip-and-Fall Case Under the “Nondelegable Duty Exception” to Non-Liability for Independent Contractor’s Acts
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In Bynoe v. Target Corporation, the Second Circuit recently vacated the trial court’s award of summary judgment to defendant.  In this slip-and-fall case, plaintiff Bynoe sued after slipping and falling on a puddle of syrup from a fallen Del Monte fruit cup in a Brooklyn Target. The court’s decision turned on the issue of “constructive notice”.…

Read More Expert Testimony Creates Issue of Fact in Slip-and-Fall Case
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In Baldwin v. Bank of America, N.A., the New York Supreme Court, Kings County, recently held that plaintiff adequately pled “aiding and abetting” claims against her former supervisor, Perez. Plaintiff alleged discrimination on the basis of gender, pregnancy, and disability. Her complaint contained four causes of action: three against the defendant Bank, and the fourth…

Read More Plaintiff Adequately Pleads “Aiding and Abetting” Claim Against Individual Under the New York City Human Rights Law
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In Yuk Ping Cheng Chan v. Young T. Lee & Son Realty Corp., the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed a denial of summary judgment for defendant in a slip-and-fall case. Plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell on a “large patch of grease” on the public sidewalk abutting premises owned by Yount T. Lee &…

Read More Slip-and-Fall Case Continues; Nexus Between Hazardous Condition and Circumstances of Fall Shown
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In Kruk v City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department, on December 19, 2013 unanimously affirmed the lower court’s order granting summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs’ claim under Labor Law § 241(6). Plaintiff was injured while using a power saw, when “the plywood he was cutting broke, pushing his left hand into the saw’s blade.”…

Read More Labor Law 241(6) Claim Dismissed; Power Saw Had Necessary Protective Guards
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