In Degen v. Uniondale Union Free School District, the Appellate Division, Second Department recently affirmed the denial of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim. “In order to establish liability under Labor Law § 240(1), there must be a violation of the statute, and the violation must be a proximate cause…
Read More Plaintiff Denied Summary Judgment on Labor Law § 240(1) ClaimBelow is the New York State Court complaint alleging sexual assault by a massage patron, as reported in today’s New York Post. Specifically, plaintiff Lauren Leakey claims that, during a massage while at the Setai Spa and Club‘s Wall Street location in April 2013, she was sexually assaulted by Setai employee Jason Turner. In particular, plaintiff alleges (among…
Read More Sex Assault Lawsuit Against Setai Spa and ClubI’ve spent many Saturdays wandering around Barnes & Noble bookstores. Years ago I would frequent the Astor Place store; after it closed my go-to location became the Union Square store. That was my awkward segue into today’s post, about a slip-and-fall case against the behemoth bookseller. The accident in this case, Seleman v. Barnes & Noble, occurred…
Read More Escalator Slip/Fall Case Against Barnes & Noble ContinuesIn Chepak v. Metropolitan Hospital (Summary Order), the Second Circuit recently vacated a trial court’s judgment dismissing plaintiff’s Equal Pay Act and Title VII discrimination claims for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The court noted that “a complaint alleging workplace discrimination and retaliation need not allege specific facts…
Read More Second Circuit Revives Equal Pay Act and Title VII Discrimination ClaimsIn Fabrizi v. 1095 Ave. of the Americas, the New York Court of Appeals addressed the issue of what constitutes a safety device within the meaning of Labor Law § 240(1). That statute, known as the “Scaffold Law”, provides: All contractors and owners and their agents, except owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for…
Read More Court of Appeals Clarifies What is a Labor Law § 240(1) Safety DeviceIn Glaser v. Gap Inc., the Southern District of New York denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s disability discrimination and failure to accommodate claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the broader New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL). Plaintiff is a 37 year-old man who suffers from autism and who…
Read More Autistic Man’s Disability Discrimination Claims ContinueImagine your car is stolen. Then imagine getting sued after the thief strikes someone with your stolen car. While this sounds made up – a subplot of a bad comedy, perhaps – it happened to Christopher Bivens. Fortunately for him, the allegations against him were (eventually) dismissed. The case is Alvarez v. Bivens, decided today by the…
Read More Court Affirms Dismissal of Claims Against Owner of Stolen Truck Used in AccidentIn Garcia v. New York City Transit Authority, the Appellate Division, Second Department held that the trial court should have granted the Transit Authority’s CPLR 4401 motion for judgment as a matter of law on the issue of liability. Here are the facts: At approximately 9:50 a.m. on May 22, 2006, the plaintiff’s decedent fell…
Read More Court Dismisses Subway Overcrowding Death LawsuitIn Watson v. Jade Luxury Transp. Corp., the court affirmed the trial court’s decision to set aside the jury’s verdict of no liability and to direct a new trial on the issue of liability. This car accident case illustrates the relationship of the distinct elements of “negligence” and “proximate cause” in a personal injury lawsuit. The…
Read More Jury Verdict in Car Accident Case Properly Set Aside As InconsistentIn Garrido v. Puente, the Appellate Division, Second Department held that a pedestrian was not entitled to summary judgment on liability. In this case, “[t]he plaintiff, a pedestrian crossing Bronx River Road at its intersection with Yonkers Avenue, was struck by an automobile operated and owned by the defendant, who was making a left turn…
Read More Pedestrian Not Entitled to Summary Judgment on Liability