In Geralds v. Damiano, 2015 NY Slip Op 04380 (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 21, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment to plaintiff. In this personal injury / motor vehicle accident /rear-end collision case: Plaintiff was injured when he was struck by a truck owned by defendant New York City…
Read More Rear-Ended Plaintiff Not Entitled to Summary JudgmentHere’s another reason not to eat potato chips – or at least not to litter. Plaintiff Yvette Hawthorne-King alleged that she slipped and fell on exterior steps of a NYC Housing Authority Building “when she used her foot to swipe aside a potato chip bag on one step, and then slipped on an oily substance…
Read More Potato Chip Bag-Kick Slip/Fall Case Survives Summary JudgmentAmong the many different ways to get injured (particularly in a place like New York City) is to be hit by a falling object. Such objects can include, for example: construction site equipment, a tree or tree branch, a giant restaurant mirror, an air conditioner, rocks, or a piece of decorative terra-cotta windowsill (as in the…
Read More Injuries Resulting From Falling ObjectsIn Bisignano v. Raabe (App. Div. 2nd Dept. May 13, 2015) – a personal injury case arising from injuries sustained by the infant plaintiff who was punched and kicked by two teenage boys while attending a fair at St. Rose of Lima Church – the court reversed summary judgment for defendants. Here is the law applicable to this…
Read More Defendants Denied Summary Judgment in Personal Injury Case Arising From Fight at Church FairIn Hermitage Ins. Co. v. Beer-Bros, Inc. of NYC (a personal injury/premises liability case), the Supreme Court, NY County (in an opinion by Judge Braun) held in a decision dated May 12, 2015 that a bar/restaurant’s insurer was not obligated to defend or indemnify the bar under the “assault and battery” exclusion in the applicable insurance policy.…
Read More “Assault and Battery” Insurance Policy Exclusion Applies Where Bystander Was Injured by Bar’s BouncerIn Strojek v. 33 E. 70th St. Corp. (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 14, 2015), a personal injury / construction accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed partial summary judgment on the issue of liabilty for plaintiff on his Labor Law § 240(1) cause of action. The court held: Plaintiff established his entitlement to judgment as a matter of…
Read More Court Affirms Summary Judgment for Plaintiff, Who Fell From Baker’s Scaffold, on Labor Law § 240 ClaimA recent case, Gonzalez v. City of New York (decided by the Supreme Court, Queens County on May 4, 2015) represents yet another example of why parties to litigation – or persons who contemplate being a party to litigation – should refrain from posting on social media anything whatsoever concerning their claims. In this personal injury case,…
Read More Court Orders In Camera Inspection of Personal Injury Plaintiff’s Social Media PostingsIn Ward v. Urban Horizons II Hous. Dev. Fund Corp. (NY App. Div. 1st Dept. May 7, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed summary judgment for plaintiff on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim. Here are the facts of this personal injury/construction accident case: Plaintiff commenced this lawsuit seeking to recover for personal injuries sustained on July…
Read More Coworker Was “Looking at Girls” Instead of Ladder-Fall Plaintiff; Summary Judgment for Plaintiff on Labor Law 240(1)/Ladder Fall Claim AffirmedUnder New York’s “No Fault” automobile insurance system, first-party no-fault insurance benefits are not available to “occupants” of a motorcycle. But what exactly does it mean to be a motorcycle “occupant”? Consider, for example, the following accident scenario: a motorcycle passenger is ejected from her motorcycle, the motorcycle becomes airborne, and then lands on the…
Read More Ejected Motorcycle Passenger Was “Occupying” the Bike and Hence Not Entitled to First-Party Benefits Under New York’s No-Fault SystemIn Blok v. Mammadov (App. Div. 2nd Dept. March 18, 2015), the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the denial of summary judgment to a pedestrian plaintiff. Here are the facts of this car accident case: While crossing Sheepshead Bay Road at or near its intersection with Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn, the plaintiff allegedly was injured…
Read More Struck Pedestrian Not Entitled to Summary Judgment