In Williams v. New York City Tr. Auth. (decided 10/8/14), the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed a judgement entered on a jury award of $480,000 (reached by applying the jury’s determination that defendant was 80% at fault in the happening of the accident to its assessment of $600,000 in damages sustained by plaintiff). Here are the…
Read More Court Affirms $480,000 Jury Award to Trip-and-Fall PlaintiffIn Davis v. Duane Reade, Inc. (2d Dept. Sept. 24, 2014), the court explained the narrow scope of the waiver provision of New York’s Whistleblower Law: Labor Law § 740(7) provides that “the institution of an action in accordance with this section shall be deemed a waiver of the rights and remedies available under any…
Read More Court Clarifies Limited Scope of Whistleblower Law’s Waiver ProvisionIn D’Agostino v. YRC, Inc., the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment on liability in favor of the plaintiff, who was struck in the rear. Here are the facts: During the late night hours of October 22, 2010, the plaintiff was driving in the northbound right lane of Interstate 87, near…
Read More Possible Explanation for Rear-End Collision Precludes Summary Judgment in Favor of Rear-Ended PlaintiffIn Brown v. Mackiewicz (decided September 10, 2014), the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the denial of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, and ordered that plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on liability be granted. Translation: plaintiff wins (at least on the issue of liability). In this car accident personal injury case, the plaintiff was a…
Read More Pedestrian Struck By Ambulance in Crosswalk Wins Summary Judgment on LiabilityAs explained by the Second Department in Cipriano v. City of New York, In a slip and fall case, a defendant may establish its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting evidence that the plaintiff cannot identify the cause of his or her fall. If a plaintiff is unable to…
Read More Second Department Clarifies That a Slip/Fall Plaintiff Need Not Have Personal Knowledge of Cause of FallIn Biniachvili v. Yeshivat Shaare Torah, Inc., the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed summary judgment for plaintiffs in their personal injury case due to the defendant’s disposal of a grate that allegedly caused injury. This, the court held, amounted to spoliation of evidence. The facts: On May 22, 2009, the infant plaintiffs …, along with approximately…
Read More Plaintiffs Awarded Summary Judgment Due to Evidence Spoliation in Personal Injury CaseIn Amador v. City of New York, decided August 13, 2014, the Appellate Division, Second Department explained: A rear-end collision with a stopped or stopping vehicle establishes a prima facie case of negligence on the part of the operator of the rear vehicle, thereby requiring that operator to rebut the inference of negligence by providing a…
Read More Rear-Ended Plaintiff Not Entitled to Summary Judgment in Car Accident CaseIn Benn v. New York Presbyt. Hosp., a pedestrian knockdown motor vehicle accident personal injury case decided August 6, 2014, the Appellate Division, Second Department denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In this case, a 13 year-old student was struck by a city ambulance while in the middle of a crosswalk after exiting a city…
Read More Ambulance-Hit-Pedestrian Lawsuit Continues; “Emergency Vehicle” Recklessness Standard InapplicableBajada v. Spector, 2014 NY Slip Op 05143 (App. Div. 2nd Dept. July 9, 2014): The defendant established his prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of liability by demonstrating that the infant’s negligent operation of his bicycle in failing to yield the right-of-way was the sole proximate cause…
Read More Bicyclist’s Failure to Yield Right of Way Results in Summary Judgment for Defendant DriverIn Kaplan v. NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene et al., the plaintiff recently filed a Notice of Appeal from a May 16, 2014 decision and order dismissing her sexual harassment and retaliation claims. In this case, plaintiff alleged that she suffered harassment and a hostile work environment after being forced to watch a co-worker masturbate. In dismissing…
Read More Plaintiff Appeals Sexual Harassment Masturbation Case