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A recent Second Department case, Martino v. Patmar Properties, Inc., illustrates the operation of the summary judgment procedure in a premises liability case. There, the plaintiff’s father was injured when he fell in an apartment he rented from the defendant. The court explained the general law: A property owner has a duty to maintain the property…
Read More Tenant v. Landlord Injury Case Continues
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In Stanziale v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, Second Department held that a pedestrian walkway on which plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell was not part of the “sidewalk” for purposes of the statute shifting liability to private property owners. In this case, the plaintiff slipped on fell on snow and ice on a pedestrian ramp abutting…
Read More Pedestrian Ramp Was Not Part of the “Sidewalk”; Ice Slip/Fall Case Dismissed
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In Arashkovitch v. City of New York (2nd Dept. 12/17/14), a snow/ice slip-and-fall case, the court affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Here is the law: Homeowners of single-family homes that are owner-occupied, such as the appellants, are exempt from liability imposed pursuant to section 7-210(b) of the Administrative Code of the City of New…
Read More Creating or Exacerbating Icy Condition May Give Rise to Liability in Personal Injury Case
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In Delva v. New York City Tr. Auth., the Appellate Division, Second Department explained the “emergency doctrine” in the context of a pedestrian knockdown case. A jury found in favor of plaintiff, and defendants moved to set aside the verdict pursuant to CPLR 4404(a). The trial court denied defendants’ motion, and the appellate court affirmed. Specifically,…
Read More Trial Court Properly Declined to Charge Jury with the “Emergency Doctrine” in Bus Accident/Pedestrian Knockdown Personal Injury Case
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In Nelson v. Vigorito, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the denial of summary judgment to defendants on plaintiff’s claim of sexual harassment based on a hostile work environment under the New York State Human Rights Law. Here are the facts, as summarized by the court: The plaintiff, a former employee of the defendant Security…
Read More Sexual Harassment/Hostile Work Environment Claims Continue Against Long Island Car Dealership
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While many personal injury cases involve various factual issues (particularly relating to the often-contested issue of negligence) that require resolution by the trier of fact, some contain issues that may be resolved as a matter of law. One example is the so-called “pedestrian knockdown” case in which a pedestrian is struck while lawfully crossing the street…
Read More Plaintiff Entitled to Summary Judgment in Pedestrian-Knockdown Case
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In Browne v. Board of Education, the Appellate Division, Second Dept. affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s claim for gender discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Executive Law § 296. In a terse decision and order devoid of factual elaboration, the court held: In opposition to the defendants’…
Read More Second Dept. Case Explains One Way to Prove Pretext in Employment Discrimination Cases
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A recent Appellate Division, Second Department decision, Sicuranza v. Philip Howard Apts. Tenants Corp. (decided 10/22/14), held that the plaintiff’s claims of sexual harassment, battery, negligent hiring, and negligent supervision were barred by a release executed by the plaintiff as part of a separation agreement she entered into with her former employer, nonparty Cooper Square Realty, Inc.…
Read More Release Bars Sexual Harassment, Battery, Negligent Hiring, and Negligent Supervision Claims
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In Johnson v. City of New York, a personal injury case involving a drowning death, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the denial of summary judgment to defendant City of New York, and dismissed plaintiff’s complaint. The facts: On July 26, 2008, Akira Johnson, a 10-year-old girl, and her cousin, Tyriek Currie, a 10-year-old boy, were…
Read More City Not Liable for Coney Island Drowning Death
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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 Plaintiff