Personal Injury

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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 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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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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Addressing an issue of first impression, the New York Supreme Court (Bronx County) in Bautista v. 85th Columbus Corporation recently held that a sidewalk basement stairway, accessed through trap doors set into the sidewalk, is not an “interior stair” within the meaning of New York City Administrative Code § 27-375. Plaintiff was injured after slipping and…

Read More Court Dismisses Personal Injury Suit, Holding That Sidewalk Trapdoor Stairs Were Not “Interior Stairs” Under the NYC Building Code and Therefore Could Lawfully Include Conveyor Belt
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In Munasca v Morrison Mgt. LLC, a trip-and-fall case, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the trial court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s case on summary judgment. Plaintiff was injured after tripping and falling on a sidewalk defect in front of defendants’ premises. The court held that defendant failed to show, as a matter of law, that the…

Read More Sidewalk Tlip and Fall Case Continues; Pictures Didn’t Show That Defect Was “Trivial”
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In Carbonnier v. Board of Education of the City of New York, a student who was injured after being pushed by another student while playing on the monkey bars in a school playground. The Appellate Division yesterday directed the entry of judgment in favor of defendant. According to the court, defendant demonstrated its entitlement to summary…

Read More Monkey Bar Injury Case Dismissed
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In McGough v. Cryan, Inc. (decided Nov. 27, 2013), the Appellate Division, Second Department held that the trial court properly denied defendant’s, and should have denied plaintiff’s, respective motions for summary judgment. The court described the injury and the alleged condition causing it: The tip of the plaintiff’s right ring finger was severed when he sat…

Read More Neither Party Entitled to Summary Judgment in Bar Stool Severed Fingertip Case
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