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In Denermark v 2857 W. 8th St. Assoc., a trip and fall case, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed a grant of summary judgment to defendants. Plaintiff was injured when she “overstepped” a single step and caused her to trip and fall onto the adjacent sidewalk while exiting a building owned by defendant 2857 West 8th…

Read More Right of Entry to Make Repairs Subjected Out-of-Possession Landlord to Liability in Trip and Fall Case
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In Benyard v. White Plains Hosp. Medical Center, the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to defendants on plaintiff’s age discrimination claims. This case illustrates (among other things) that it is not enough for an age discrimination plaintiff to point to her years of service and replacement by a younger worker. This is…

Read More Age Discrimination Plaintiff Was Unable to Show Pretext, and General Complaints Did Not Support Retaliation Claim
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Here is the age discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed in New York state court by Bernice Lowe, Angela Fletcher and Rosemary Mangum against retailer Loehmann’s and others. In the suit, captioned Lowe v. Loehmann’s Holdings Inc. et al (NY Sup. Ct. Index No. 160564/2013), plaintiffs allege discrimination and retaliation under the New York City Human Rights…

Read More Age Discrimination Lawsuit Against Loehmann’s
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In Knight v. State University of New York at Stony Brook, the Eastern District of New York recently dismissed plaintiff’s race discrimination and retaliation claims, on the ground that plaintiff did not sufficiently allege that he was employed by the defendant. Plaintiff alleged that he worked as an electrician at a construction project for defendant…

Read More Court Dismisses Race Discrimination Case Because Plaintiff Didn’t Sufficiently Allege That He Was Employed by Defendant
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Recently in Amadu v. Stratus Hacking Corp., a car accident case, the New York Supreme Court, Queens County held that plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether he suffered a “serious injury” within the meaning of Insurance Law Section 5102(d). The “serious injury” issue is critical in an automobile…

Read More Medical Evidence of “Strained Lumbar Spine” and “Right Ankle Sprain” Sufficient to Create Fact Issue Regarding “Serious Injury” in Car Accident Case
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This week, “Treme” and “Finding Forrester” actor Rob Brown filed two class action lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Both lawsuits – one against Macy’s (13-cv-8092) and the other against the City of New York (13-cv-8094) – arise from his alleged unlawful detention for credit card fraud on June 8, 2013…

Read More Actor Rob Brown’s “Shop and Frisk” Lawsuits Against Macy’s and the City of New York
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In DiDonna v. Houck, a pedestrian-knockdown car accident case decided November 13, 2013, the Appellate Division, Second Department agreed with the trial court that the jury’s finding as to liability was not supported by a fair interpretation of the evidence. In particular, it found that it attributed too much liability to plaintiff, and too little…

Read More Jury Attributed Too Much Fault to Struck Pedestrian in Car Accident Case, Court Holds
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Recently, in Cajamarca v. Regal Entertainment Group, the New York Supreme Court (NY County) dismissed plaintiff’s sexual harassment and related claims arising from the alleged conduct of her co-worker (Gadsden). In this “pure” hostile work environment case (i.e., one in which plaintiff did not suffer a “tangible employment action”), plaintiff alleged that shortly after Gadsden…

Read More Theater Not Strictly Liable for Sexual Harassment by Co-Worker; Masturbation in Plaintiff’s Presence Did Not Constitute Assault
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Below and here is the complaint recently filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York by sewer maintenance worker Lisa Sprada against her employer, the Town of Cheektowaga. (News coverage here and here.) The case is captioned Sprada v. Town of Cheektowaga, WDNY 13-00985. Plaintiff alleges that upon transferring into her…

Read More Female Sewer Maintenance Worker’s Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
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In Torres v. 1420 Realty LLC, the Appellate Division, First Department recently applied the doctrine of “superseding cause” to affirm the dismissal of plaintiff’s personal injury case. Under that doctrine, a defendant is relieved of liability where, after his negligence, an unforeseeable superseding event breaks the causal connection between his negligence and a plaintiff’s injuries.…

Read More Court Dismisses Personal Injury Case, Finding That Use of Inverted Bucket as Step Stool on Uneven Floor Was “Superseding Cause” of Injury
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