Author: mjpospis

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In Anastasiya M. v New York City Bd. of Educ., decided December 4, 2013, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed a summary judgment for defendant in a case arising from a gym-class injury. Plaintiffs sued “after the infant plaintiff allegedly was injured during a school gym class when she fell while walking backwards in an accelerated…

Read More Gym Class Injury Case Survives Summary Judgment
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A case decided by the First Department today, Dillard v. New York City Housing Authority, illustrates the circumstances under which the element of proximate cause may be resolved as a matter of law.  The court reversed a summary judgment for defendant, finding an issue of fact as to plaintiff’s comparative negligence. Here: Plaintiff, a resident…

Read More Plaintiff Was Not Sole Proximate Cause of Slip and Fall on Snow/Ice-Covered Steps
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In Madera v. Target Corp., the Southern District of New York denied defendant Target Corporation’s motion for summary judgment.  Plaintiff sued after slipping and falling on a puddle of water in one of defendants’ stores. While ordinarily personal injury suits are brought in state court, here the defendant removed the case to federal court on…

Read More Slip and Fall Case Continues; Store’s Announcement 30 Minutes Prior to Fall Suggested That Store Had Notice of Defective Condition
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In Scafe v. Schindler Elevator Corp., the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment for defendant. Plaintiff sued for injuries sustained when elevator doors slammed on her hand. Summary judgment has been described as the procedural equivalent of a trial. “On a motion for summary judgment, the movant bears the burden of adducing affirmative…

Read More Elevator Accident Personal Injury Case Survives Summary Judgment
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In Serdans v. New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Appellate Division, First Department permitted plaintiff’s claim that defendant failed to accommodate her disability to continue. Plaintiff, a registered nurse and nurse practitioner specializing in critical care, “suffers from a neurological disorder for which she was treated with deep brain stimulus (DBS) through electrodes permanently implanted in…

Read More Court Allows Failure to Accommodate Neurological Disability Claim to Continue
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In Auqui v Seven Thirty One Ltd. Partnership, decided December 10, 2013, the New York Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) held that the determination by the Workers’ Compensation Board that plaintiff had “no further causally-related disability since January 24, 2006” and no further need for treatment was not entitled to collateral estoppel effect in…

Read More Court of Appeals Declines, in Negligence Case, to Give Collateral Estoppel Effect to Workers’ Compensation Board Finding
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An eye-opening Metro article highlights the difficulties faced by victims of domestic violence with respect to obtaining appropriate housing. Victims of domestic violence may also suffer discrimination in the workplace, where its effects can be particularly devastating. As explained by the New York Supreme Court court in Reynolds v. Fraser, decided in 2004: The ability to hold on…

Read More Workplace Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence, Sex Offenses, or Stalking
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In Wright v. Emigrant Savings Bank, the Appellate Division, First Department recently held that the Supreme Court, Bronx County properly denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint. Defendant failed to “establish[] prima facie that it did not create or have notice of the black ice that allegedly caused plaintiff to slip and fall,…

Read More Plaintiff’s Case Arising From Slip/Fall on Black Ice Continues
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In Reynolds v. All Island Media, Inc., the New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County, held that plaintiff Leona Reynolds adequately stated claims arising from the alleged sexual harassment by her supervisor, Angelo Donofrio. The court summarized plaintiff’s allegations as follows: The amended complaint alleges, among other things, that plaintiff was sexually harassed by Donofrio throughout…

Read More At-Will Employee Stated Claim For Sexual Harassment and Breach of the Contractual Obligation of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
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