In Ledesma v. AMA Grocery, Corp., 42 N.Y.S.3d 157, 158 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 6, 2016), a personal injury trip-and-fall case, the court affirmed the denial of summary judgment to the landlord/defendant. In this case, plaintiff alleged that they sustained injuries when they fell on a raised metal strip at the edge of…
Read More Landlord Not Entitled to Summary Judgment in Trip-and-Fall CaseFrom Humphries v. City Univ. of N.Y., 2017 NY Slip Op 00034 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Jan. 3, 2017): The motion court correctly determined that the State Human Rights Law retaliation claim (Executive Law § 290 et seq.) is barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel (see Buechel v Bain, 97 NY2d 295, 303-304 [2001], cert…
Read More Adverse Arbitration Decision Properly Resulted in Dismissal of Retaliation ClaimIn Vera v. Low Income Mktg. Corp., 2016 NY Slip Op 08318 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 13, 2016), a personal injury/construction accident case, the court explained its decision to grant plaintiff’s, and deny defendant’s, motion for summary judgment. At issue was plaintiff’s status. From the decision: The motion court properly granted plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary…
Read More Workers’ Compensation Board Finding Regarding “Employment” Was Not Preclusive in Construction Accident (Labor Law § 240(1)) Case; Injured Plaintiff Was Not a “Volunteer”If, while out and about this holiday season, you encounter a pile of Christmas trees, tread carefully. In Barchi v. Rudin E. 55th St. LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 07266 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Nov. 3, 2016), the court affirmed the summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s trip-and-fall personal injury complaint. From the decision/order: Defendants satisfied their prima…
Read More Christmas Tree Trip-and-Fall Complaint DismissedA recent First Department decision, Rosario v. Prana Nine Props., LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 06431 (Oct. 4, 2016), upheld the lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s personal injury slip-and-fall case. The court summarized the law as follows: A defendant who moves for summary judgment in a slip and fall case has the initial burden of…
Read More Slip/Fall Case Dismissed; No Duty to Correct Pedestrian-Tracked Water; No Notice of UrineIn Balleram v. 11P, LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 06458 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Oct. 4, 2016), the court affirmed a lower court’s order granting summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint. Briefly, plaintiff sued to recover damages for personal injuries she allegedly sustained as a result of her slipping and falling while standing in her bathtub taking a…
Read More Court: No Statutory Duty to Install a “Handrail or Grab-Bar” in Apartment BathroomIn La Porta v. Alacra, Inc., 142 A.D.3d 851, 2016 NY Slip Op 06113 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Sept. 22, 2016), the court held that plaintiff stated claims for hostile work environment sexual harassment and retaliation (but not hostile work environment-based constructive discharge). The court summarized plaintiff’s claims as follows: Plaintiff, the manager of defendant…
Read More Sexual Harassment Case (Including Facebook “Boobs” Comment) Survives Motion to DismissFrom St. Jean Jeudy v. City of New York, 2016 NY Slip Op 06045 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Sept. 15, 2016): It is undisputed that plaintiff made out the first three elements of his claim of invidious employment discrimination under the State and City [Human Rights Laws]. We find that he also made out the fourth…
Read More Accent-Based Race/National Origin Discrimination Claims Survive Motion to DismissIn Rodriguez v. City of New York, 2016 NY Slip Op 05943 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Sept. 1, 2016), the court held that a plaintiff moving for summary judgment on liability must demonstrate, as a matter of law, that s/he is free from comparative fault. From the decision: In this case, we are revisiting a vexing…
Read More First Department: Personal Injury Plaintiff Must Show Freedom From Comparative Fault in Order to Win Summary Judgment on LiabilityIn Gravano v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., 2016 NY Slip Op 05942 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Sept. 1, 2016), the court held that the claims asserted by plaintiffs Lindsay Lohan and Karen Gravano against the makers of the “Grand Theft Auto V” video game under New York Civil Rights Law § 51 should have been dismissed. Ms.…
Read More Lindsay Lohan’s Civil Rights Action Based on “Grand Theft Auto” Game Dismissed