Premises Liability

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In 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 Fair
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In 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 Bouncer
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In 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 Affirmed
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In Palladino v. City of New York (App. Div. 2nd Dept. April 1, 2015), the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s trip-and-fall case. Plaintiff alleged that she was injured when she “tripped on a depression in the asphalt surface abutting a metal plate which covered a valve box that served a nearby fire hydrant.” The…

Read More Trip/Fall Case Dismissed; Half-Inch Deep Depression Was “Trivial” as a Matter of Law
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In Moriarty v. Lenox Terrace Development Associates (NY Sup. Ct. 3/24/15), the plaintiff sought to recover for injuries she sustained after tripping and falling upon exiting a misleveled elevator in her building. She relied, in part, on the theory of “res ipsa loquitur”. The court explained that, in order to invoke that doctrine, a plaintiff…

Read More Elevator Misleveling Trip-and-Fall Case Proceeds to Trial on Res Ipsa Loquitur Theory
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A recent decision, Martinez v. Lincoln Center (Sup. Ct. Bx. Cty. Apr. 8, 2015), illustrates that attorneys who engage in obstructionist conduct at depositions do so at their peril. In this personal injury action, plaintiff, a laborer, was injured when he slipped and fell on debris in an underground garage at Lincoln Center. The court granted…

Read More Violation of Deposition Rules Results in $250 Sanction Against Defense Attorney in Personal Injury Case
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In Kurtz v. Supercuts, Inc. – a personal injury / premises liability / slip-and-fall case – the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The court explained: Summary judgment was properly denied in this action where plaintiff alleges that she was injured when she slipped and fell on a…

Read More Hair Salon Slip/Fall Case Continues
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In Jangana v. Nicole Equities LLC (App. Div. 1st Dept. Apr. 9, 2015), a trip-and-fall case, the Appellate Division, First Department rejected the defendants’ argument that the alleged injury-causing defective condition – here, a moving carpet – was “trivial” as a matter of law. The court explained: Summary judgment was properly denied in this action…

Read More Carpet Trip/Fall Case Continues
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Generally, the purpose New York’s “scaffold law” (New York Labor Law § 240(1)) is to protect construction workers from the pronounced risks arising from construction work site elevation differentials. A recent First Department case, Jordan v. City of New York (decided March 26, 2015), illustrates that what might seem like relatively small elevation differentials can nevertheless implicate…

Read More Force, Not Height, Is Key In a Labor Law 240(1) Construction Accident Case
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