In Bednark v. City of New York (decided April 2, 2015), a bus-related personal injury case, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a lower court’s order granting summary judgment to the the defendant City of New York to deny that motion. The facts: Plaintiff was injured when, while disembarking from the rear doors of a…
Read More “Bus Stop” Includes Sidewalk; Summary Judgment to City DeniedGenerally, 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 CaseA recent Appellate Division decision, Valverde v. Great Expectations, LLC (decided March 31, 2015) is an example of a defense failure to make a prima facie showing to summary judgment in a personal injury premises liability case. The court affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendants’ motion, without considering plaintiff’s responsive papers. From the opinion: Defendants…
Read More Questions re Notice Result in Denial of Summary Judgment in Golf Path Trip/Fall CaseIn a short opinion, the First Department in Santo-Perez v. Enterprise Leasing Co. (decided March 26, 2015) reversed summary judgment for defendant driver, even though the pedestrian they hit was outside the crosswalk at the time. The court wrote: While the fact that plaintiff was crossing the street on foot outside of the crosswalk, in…
Read More Outside-the-Crosswalk Pedestrian Knockdown Case ContinuesIn Doe v. NYC Dept. of Education (decided March 24, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Dept. affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint alleging improper sexual conduct between a teacher and a student. It was “undisputed that defendant Agosto, a substitute teacher at another school and the infant plaintiff’s track coach, had unlawful sexual intercourse with the…
Read More Underage Student Sex Case DismissedIn Derrick v. American Intl. Group, Inc. (App. Div. 1st Dept. March 19, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the lower court’s order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint and denying plaintiff’s motion to amend her complaint. In this case, plaintiff asserts claims for race, national origin, and gender discrimination and harassment. Citing NY…
Read More Adverse Unemployment Decision Does Not Preclude Discrimination Claims, Court HoldsNazi dentists are terrifying. Drunk dentists may be a close second. New York’s whistleblower statutes – codified at Labor Law §§ 740 and 741 – are notoriously (and, from a plaintiffs’ lawyer’s perspective, frustratingly) narrow. It is, therefore, refreshing to see a plaintiff prevail, if “only” on a motion for summary judgment. This victory – arguably the…
Read More Plaintiff Fired After Complaining About Drunk Dentist Survives Summary Judgment on Labor Law § 741 Whistleblower ClaimIn Steele v. Santana (App Div. 1st Dept. 2/19/15), a personal injury injury car accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the lower court’s determination that plaintiff did not suffer a “serious injury” within the meaning of section 5102(d) of the New York Insurance Law. In this case, plaintiff alleges that she suffered injuries to…
Read More Evidence of Tendon and Rotator Cuff Tears Present Triable Issue of Fact Relating to “Serious Injury” in Car Accident CaseCase law establishes that drivers have a duty “to see that which, through the proper use of senses, should have been seen”. In Sarac-Marshall v. Mikalopas (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 26, 2015), a personal injury bicycle accident case, the court applied this principle and unanimously affirmed the plaintiff-bicyclist’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of…
Read More Bicyclist Hit By Car Entitled to Summary Judgment on LiabilityIn Clark v. Allen & Overy, LLP, 2015 NY Slip Op 01398, 125 AD3d 497 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 17, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the lower court’s order granting defendant law firm’s motion to compel plaintiff to submit to a mental examination. (I wrote about a development in this case here.) The…
Read More Discrimination Plaintiff Seeking Emotional Distress Damages Must Submit to Mental Examination, First Dept. Holds