A recent Second Department decision, Fernandez v. Babylon Mun. Solid Waste, illustrates the circumstances under which a rear-ended plaintiff is not entitled to summary judgment. Plaintiff’s vehicle was struck in the rear by a vehicle owned by defendant Babylon and driven by defendant Catania. Plaintiff moved for summary judgment on the issue of liability, and…
Read More Rear-Ending Driver Not Liable as a Matter of LawIn Catalanello v. Kramer (decided May 7, 2014), Southern District Judge Paul Engelmayer dismissed plaintiff Robert Catalanello’s complaint alleging defamation and false light invasion of privacy against law professor Zachary Kramer. Applying New Jersey law, the court held that the alleged defamatory statements (which were contained in Kramer’s law review article titled “Of Meat and Manhood” and…
Read More Court Dismisses Defamation and False Light/Privacy Claims Brought By Alleged Harasser Against Law ProfessorIn Phillip v Young Men’s Christian Assn. of Greater N.Y. (a slip-and-fall case), the Appellate Division, First Department recently affirmed the lower court’s grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. “Defendant met its initial burden of demonstrating lack of notice of the wet condition of the locker room floor where plaintiff allegedly slipped by submitting evidence…
Read More General Awareness of Wet Condition Insufficient to Survive Summary Judgment in Slip/Fall CaseThe Eastern District of New York recently held, in Baron v. Advanced Asset and Property Management Solutions LLC, that plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment on his disability discrimination claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New York State Human Rights Law. Plaintiff, who worked for defendant as an Assistant Controller,…
Read More Disability Discrimination Claims Survive Summary JudgmentA recent Southern District decision, James v. NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, illustrates that the anti-discrimination laws are not a “general civility code” and underscores the critical requirement that, in order to be actionable, any alleged discrimination or harassment must be “because of” a protected characteristic (here, the plaintiff’s sex). Plaintiff, a female Special Officer in…
Read More Workplace Slap Was Not “Because Of” Plaintiff’s Sex; Sexual Harassment Claim DismissedIn Serra v. Goldman Sachs Group, the Appellate Division, First Department held that the trial court properly granted plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment as to liability on plaintiff’s Labor Law § 240(1) claim: [P]laintiffs submitted uncontradicted deposition testimony that the unsecured extended ladder upon which plaintiff was working slipped and fell out from underneath him.…
Read More Ladder Slip Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiff on Labor Law 240(1) ClaimIn Hernandez v. Edison Properties, 2013 NY Slip Op 33620(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Index # 103762/12 March 31, 2013), the court dismissed a complaint under the “election of remedies” doctrine codified in the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), Executive Law 297(9). In this case, plaintiff asserted a discrimination complaint in the New York State Division of…
Read More “No Probable Cause” Finding by State Division of Human Rights Bars Subsequent Claims Under the “Election of Remedies” DoctrineThe Second Department’s recent decision in Croci v. Town of Haverstraw et al. is instructive as to how to plead causes of action, under the New York State Human Rights Law, against co-workers engaging in allegedly discriminatory conduct. In this case plaintiff sued one of her co-employees and their employer, alleging “ that she was subjected…
Read More Co-Worker Harassment Suit Dismissed Due to Failure to Allege Aiding and Abetting Theory Against Individual DefendantIn Greene v. Middletown, filed April 29, 2014, the Southern District of New York granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s disability discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In reaching its decision, Judge Cote cited and applied the “stray remarks” doctrine, which is used to evaluate whether allegedly discriminatory comments are…
Read More Amputee’s Disability Discrimination Case Dismissed Due to “Oblique and Remote” Nature of Alleged Discriminatory RemarkIn Herrera v. Dulisse, a car accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment to defendant on plaintiff’s claim that she suffered a “serious injury”. Defendant “failed to establish his entitlement to judgment as a matter of law with respect to plaintiff’s claims under the ‘permanent consequential limitation of…
Read More Evidence of Bulging Disc and 20% Loss of Use of Cervical Spine Sufficient to Meet Serious Injury Threshold in Car Accident Case