Court: NY App. Div. Dept. 1

by

In Taveras v 1149 Webster Realty Corp., 2015 NY Slip Op 09192, the court held that plaintiff’s trip-and-fall case should not have been dismissed: [W]e find that defendants in this case failed to meet their initial burden of establishing, prima facie, their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by asserting that plaintiff could not…

Read More Plaintiff Adequately Identified Defect Causing Him to Fall; Summary Judgment for Defendants Overturned
Share This:
by

A First Department case, Cadet-Legros v. New York Univ. Hosp. Ctr., 2015 NY Slip Op 08984 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 8, 2015), held that defendants were entitled to summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s race discrimination cause of action under the NYC Human Rights Law. This case offers guidance on how courts evaluate motions for summary judgment…

Read More Termination Reasons Were Not Pretextual; “Leopard Does Not Change its Spots” Was Not “Coded” Racial Language
Share This:
by

Unfortunately for New York workers, New York has a notoriously weak workplace “whistleblower law”. Its general whistleblower statute, NY Labor Law § 740, provides (in pertinent part): An employer shall not take any retaliatory personnel action against an employee because such employee does any of the following: (a) discloses, or threatens to disclose to a…

Read More Whistleblower Claim Dismissed; Supervisor Assault Was Not a Qualifying Legal Violation
Share This:
by

In Fauntleroy v. EMM Group Holdings LLC, the First Department held that plaintiff presented enough evidence to overcome summary judgment on his claims for personal injuries arising from a fight with a security guard hired by one of the defendants. The appellate court unanimously reversed the lower court’s order granting summary judgment to defendants, explaining: Defendants’…

Read More Lawsuit Brought By Plaintiff Punched in Face by Nightclub Security Guard Continues
Share This:
by

In Ragoo v. New York City Taxi & Limousine Comm’n, No. 101970/08, 2015 WL 6181750 (N.Y. App. Div. Oct. 22, 2015), the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claims for retaliation and disability discrimination (failure to accommodate) under the New York State Human Rights Law because plaintiff failed to establish that she suffered an “adverse employment…

Read More Transfer and Reassignment Were Not “Adverse Employment Actions”; Disability Discrimination and Retaliation Claims Properly Dismissed
Share This:
by

In Ashton v. EQR Riverside A, LLC, 2015 NY Slip Op 07916 (Oct. 29, 2015), the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s trip-and-fall case. This case, like many premises liability cases, turned on the critical issue of “notice”. From the decision: It was undisputed that defendants did not have actual or constructive notice of the height differential…

Read More Trip/Fall Case Properly Dismissed; Expert’s Conclusion Was “Speculative”
Share This:
by

In Sikora v Earth Leasing Prop. Ltd. Liab. Co., 2015 NY Slip Op 07918 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Oct. 29, 2015) – a personal injury ice slip/fall case – the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed a lower court decision denying defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The court explained: Defendant failed to establish entitlement to judgment as a matter of law…

Read More Plaintiff Survives Summary Judgment in Ice Slip/Fall Personal Injury Case
Share This:
by

In Velasquez v. MTA Bus Co., 2015 NY Slip Op 07536 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Oct. 15, 2015), the court unanimously affirmed Supreme Court Judge Arlene Bluth’s Order granting plaintiff – an injured bicyclist – summary judgment on the issue of liability. In reaching its decision, the court cited to Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 1122[a] and 1128.…

Read More Plaintiff Bicyclist Entitled to Summary Judgment in Bus Accident Personal Injury Case
Share This: