April 2014

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The New York Court of Appeals (New York’s highest court) recently clarified the standards applicable when a party to litigation seeks information, or discovery, from a non-party. The case, Matter of Kapon v. Koch, arises from billionaire William I. Koch’s lawsuit to recover damages for the alleged sale of counterfeit wine. (The court issued the decision on…

Read More NY Court of Appeals Clarifies Burdens Relating to Nonparty Subpoenas Under CPLR 3101(a)(4)
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In Bisram v. Long Island Jewish Hospital, a recent construction accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the lower court’s decision to grant plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim, but modified the decision and granted defendants’ motion as to plaintiff’s claims based on Labor Law § 200 and certain claims…

Read More Defendant’s Failure to Secure Steel Beam Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiff on Labor Law 240(1) Claim
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In Brown v. Crowdtwist, the Southern District of New York (Judge Baer) recently denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s age discrimination claim under the New York City Human Rights Law. The court held that the plaintiff, a 43-year old male, presented sufficient evidence that he was terminated by internet startup technology company Crowdtwist…

Read More Age Discrimination Claim Against Internet Startup Crowdtwist Survives Summary Judgment
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In a decision illustrating New York’s strong public policy favoring an employee’s right to earn a living free from contractual restrictions, an upstate New York federal court recently rejected a company’s attempt to enforce a non-competition provision against a departing employee. The decision is Veramark Technologies Inc v. Bouk, decided April 2, 2014. After one-time Veramark employee…

Read More Court Rejects Employer’s Request for Preliminary Injunction Against Departing Employee and New Employer
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Below is the complaint filed on April 15, 2014 against the City of New York and several “John Doe” police officers by Theodora Ray, who is one of the bystanders shot by the NYPD during the botched September 14, 2013 attempt to apprehend an (unarmed) Glenn Broadnax. (I previously wrote about a similar suit, arising from a…

Read More Lawsuit by Pedestrian Shot During NYPD’s Botched Apprehension of Unarmed Man
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In Carriero v. Nazario, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit arising from injuries sustained by plaintiff when he dove into a shallow pool. Defendants “established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by demonstrating that the plaintiff’s act of diving into the shallow pool was the…

Read More Pool Injury Case Dismissed
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In Miller v. City of New York, a car accident case decided April 16, 2014, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the lower court’s decision denying defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and held that they were entitled to dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint and all claims against them. This is a long way of saying “plaintiffs lose.”…

Read More Traffic Agent’s Alleged Negligent Acts Were “Discretionary”, Precluding Liability in Car Accident Case
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One type of “premises liability” case is involves an allegation that the property owner has failed to provide adequate security, which leads to an on-premises assault. In one such case, Terrero v New York City Housing Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment to the defendant. Plaintiff sued on behalf of her…

Read More Negligent Security Lawsuit Arising From Roof Sexual Assault Survives Summary Judgment
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In McGuinness v Concentric Health Care LLC, the Appellate Division, First Department permitted plaintiff’s New York City Human Rights Law-based age discrimination and retaliation claims to continue. As to plaintiff’s discrimination claim: Defendants failed to demonstrate that they did not discriminate against plaintiff on the basis of her age. Plaintiff, who was 49 when she was…

Read More Age Discrimination and Retaliation Claims Continue Against Pharmaceutical Advertising Agency
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Below is the federal complaint, captioned Chang et al. v. Phoenix Satellite Television (US), Inc. et al., 1:14-cv-02686, filed yesterday by three plaintiffs against Phoenix Satellite Television US, Inc., Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited, and Zhengzhu Liu. Gothamist reported on the lawsuit here. Mr. Liu, it might be recalled, was featured as the alleged harasser…

Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Phoenix Satellite Television and Alleged Intern Harasser Zhengzhu Liu
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