In Hettich v 125 E. 50th St. Co., LLC, the Appellate Division, First Department recently modified a lower court order to deny defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, and affirmed the denial of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on liability. In this case, plaintiff was injured when the hoist cable for the dumbwaiter in…
Read More Dumbwaiter Injury Suit ContinuesIn Espiritu v. Shuttle Express Coach, Inc., a bus-bicycle accident case, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed summary judgment for the defendant bus company. Here are the facts: [P]laintiff was riding his bicycle south on Adams Street in Brooklyn when he was struck on the left side by a private shuttle bus owned by the defendant…
Read More Wrong-Way Injured Bicyclist May Continue Case Against Bus CompanyIn Jacobsen v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., 2014 N.Y. Slip Op 2098, the New York Court of Appeals recently held that summary judgment should not have been granted on plaintiff’s disability discrimination claims under the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. The court held that “both statutes generally preclude summary judgment…
Read More NY Court of Appeals Holds That Issues of Fact as to “Reasonable Accommodation” Preclude Summary Judgment on Disability Discrimination ClaimsIn Cerverizzo v City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s Labor Law 241(6) claim which was predicated on a violation of 12 NYCRR 23-1.7(g) pertaining to “oxygen deficient work areas.” In this case: Plaintiff Joseph Cerverizzo, an employee of third party defendant subcontractor…
Read More Worker’s Labor Law Case, Based on Inhalation of Toxic Fumes in Aeration Tank at Sewage Plant, ContinuesAccording to various news reports, several (as many as eight) people were injured yesterday when shelving at a Bronx Dollar Store collapsed in a “thunderous roar”, causing objects (including cans and dishes) to fall. As this just happened and details are still emerging, it is far too early to determine whether, and to what extent, the…
Read More Bronx Dollar Store Shelving Collapse – Res Ipsa Loquitur?The Second Circuit recently held, in Parada v. Banco Industrial De Venezuela (decided March 25, 2014), that “impairments that limit the ability to sit for long periods of time do not categorically fail to qualify as disabilities under” the Americans with Disabilities Act. Plaintiff worked for the defendant in a “largely sedentary” position. About six…
Read More Circuit Rejects “Categorical” Determination that Inability to Sit for Prolonged Periods is Not a “Disability” Under the Americans with Disabilities ActRecently, in Pichardo v. Fernandez, the Supreme Court, New York County denied a motion for summary judgment filed by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and the driver of a City bus involved in an accident. Plaintiff was a passenger on a NYCTA bus when it was struck from behind by a car driven and…
Read More Bus Passenger’s Personal Injury Case Continues, Where Protruding Bus Was Rear-EndedIn Arzeno v. City of New York, the Bronx Supreme Court discussed the application of the New York City Sidewalk Law – codified as New York City Administrative Code (NYCAC) § 7-210 – which generally shifts liability for sidewalk accidents from the City to abutting property owners. The court dismissed the action against the City, but…
Read More Sidewalk/Hydrant Trip-and-Fall Case Dismissed Against City, Remains Against Abutting Property OwnersIn Sacks v. Gandhi Engineering, the Southern District of New York adopted a Report and Recommendation that defendant’s motion for summary judgment for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act be denied (but that defendant’s motion as to plaintiff’s age and religious discrimination claims be granted). Plaintiff worked for defendant as a Senior Inspector…
Read More Plaintiff Presented Enough Evidence to Overcome Summary Judgment on His “Perceived Disability” Discrimination ClaimRecently, the Second Circuit held, in Kwan v. Andalex Group, that the district court erroneously granted summary judgment to defendant on plaintiff’s retaliation claims. Plaintiff alleged that she was fired by defendant’s Chief Investment Officer about three weeks after she complained to defendant’s Chief Operations Officer about gender discrimination, namely, by asking him why she was “being…
Read More Pointing to Inconsistent Reasons for Termination, Second Circuit Vacates Dismissal of Retaliation Claims