Court: NY App. Div. Dept. 1

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In Matthews v. 400 Fifth Realty LLC, the Appellate Division, First Department reinstated plaintiff’s claims under Labor Law §§ 200 and 240(1).There, plaintiff was injured when a metal grate fell on him while he was working in the elevator shaft of a building owned by defendant 400 Fifth Realty. As to plaintiff’s Labor Law § 240(1) claim, the…

Read More Plaintiff Wins Under § 240(1) in “Falling Object” Case; No Requirement That Object Fell While Being Hoisted or Secured
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Plaintiff and former school principal Michelle Askin alleged in a discrimination lawsuit that she was “subjected to unfair and excessive scrutiny and reprimands during 2010 to 2011, including an investigation into allegations of misconduct” and then terminated.  At the time, plaintiff was 54 and served as the principal of a school she had founded. In…

Read More Age Discrimination Complaint Against Dept. of Education Dismissed; No “Inference of Discrimination”
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In Barreto v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department (Judges Tom, Friedman, Freedman, Feinman) court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claims under Labor Law §§ 200, 240(1) and 241(6), holding that plaintiff was the sole proximate cause of the injury-causing accident. Plaintiff was injured when he fell into an uncovered manhole while performing…

Read More Failure to Use “Perfect Safety Device” Dooms Plaintiff’s Labor Law § 240(1) Claim
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In Mutadir v. 80-90 Maiden Lane Del LLC, a construction accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a lower court order and reinstated plaintiff’s Labor Law § 240(1) claim, but affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s Labor Law § 241(6), common-law negligence, and Labor Law § 200 claims. The accident: Plaintiff, a carpenter employed by…

Read More Carpenter Injured After Falling From Milk Crates May Continue Claims Under Labor Law § 240(1); Labor Law §§ 200 and 241(6) Claims Dismissed
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In Angeles v. American United Transp., Inc., a car accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed the trial court’s (Supreme Court, Bronx County) denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the “serious injury” threshold issue. The “serious injury” threshold frequently arises in automobile accident cases. Section 5104(a) of the New York Insurance Law…

Read More “Serious Injury” Found Based on Cervical and Lumbar Spine injuries
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In Strong v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department recently held that sanctions were appropriate in light of the NYPD’s deletion of audio recordings preceding a car accident allegedly initiated by an NYPD driver. Plaintiff and others were injured when an NYPD vehicle “collided with a vehicle operated by defendant Geraldo Falcon,…

Read More Deletion of Radio Transmissions Results in Sanctions in NYPD Car Accident Case
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Recently, in Ciaravino v. City of New York (a trip-and-fall case), the Appellate Division, First Department reversed summary judgment for defendant and granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff alleged that she was injured when she tripped and fell after she stepped into a depression in the street near a subway exit in Union Square Park.…

Read More Trip/Fall Suit Continues, Despite Incorrect Identification in Notice of Claim of Location of Accident
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The Appellate Division, First Department, today affirmed (in Renteria v. Simakov, 2013 NY Slip Op 06071) a grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs, and the denial of summary judgment to defendants, in a case involving a rear-end collision. Defendant taxi driver Daza hit plaintiff in the rear after plaintiff stopped in the left lane…

Read More Court Affirms Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Rear-End Collision Case
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The Appellate Division, First Department recently upheld an arbitrator’s decision to terminate the respondent, a tenured teacher, for making death threats towards an arbitrator. The decision is In re Smith v. NYC Dept. of Education, 2013 NY Slip Op 05765 (Sept. 3, 2013). Initially, the court held that the arbitrator’s decision to terminate the petitioner…

Read More Death Threats Justified Teacher’s Firing; No First Amendment Protection for “True Threats”
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In Gautier v. 941 Intervale Realty LLC, 2013 NY Slip Op 05432, 108 AD3d 481 (July 23, 2013), a stairway slip-and-fall case, the court affirmed the denial of summary judgment to defendant. Defendant moved for summary judgment on the ground that it neither created nor had actual or constructive notice of the hazard.  In support, it cited…

Read More Summary Judgment Properly Denied to Defendant in Slip/Fall Case; No Evidence That Janitorial Schedule Was Followed on Day of Incident
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