January 2014

Plaintiff was injured when she slipped on an accumulation of water and fell in the bathroom of her apartment in defendants’ building.  The water that caused plaintiff’s fall came from a leak in the bathroom ceiling. The trial court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed.  The case is Hernandez…

Read More Apartment Occupant Can Continue Case Arising Out of Slip-and-Fall On Water From Ceiling Leak
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In Seleznyov v New York City Tr. Auth., the Appellate Division, First Department reversed summary judgment for, and reinstated plaintiff’s complaint against, defendants New York City Transit Authority and the City of New York. It held: NYCTA failed to establish entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, in this action where plaintiff was injured…

Read More Questions Regarding Adequacy and Reasonableness of Subway Cleaning Schedule Result in Reinstatement of Slip-and-Fall Case
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In Tompa v. 767 Fifth Partners, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s slip-and-fall case. Plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell on a thin sheet of ice on the plaza in front of defendant’s building.  Defendant presented evidence that it neither created nor had notice of the icy condition of the…

Read More Court Dismisses Slip/Fall Case Based on Fluid Dynamics Theory Requiring Expert Testimony
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In a recent case, Harrison v. New York City Tr. Auth., the First Department clarified how juries must be instructed on the issue of constructive notice in a slip-and-fall case. There, the court reversed a judgment entered on a $500,000 jury verdict for plaintiff and ordered a new trial on liability. Plaintiff “slipped and fell on…

Read More Citing Erroneous Jury Instruction on Constructive Notice, Court Orders New Liability Trial in Subway Slip/Fall Case
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In Pulver v. City of Fulton Dept. of Public Works (App. Div. 4th Dept. Jan. 3, 2014), the court reversed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment, and dismissed plaintiff’s complaint.  There, [plaintiff sued] to recover damages for injuries that she allegedly sustained when she tripped and fell in a hole in the…

Read More Defendant Wins in Trip and Fall Case, Where Plaintiff Could Not Demonstrate “Affirmative Negligence” Exception to “Prior Written Notice” Requirement
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In Saliba v Five Towns College, the Eastern District of New York held that plaintiff, an assistant professor, failed to state a claim for retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Plaintiff alleged that she was terminated solely because she had voiced her concerns regarding rampant corruption in the administration of…

Read More Court Dismisses Professor’s Retaliation Claim Based on Complaints About Another Professor’s Sexual Harassment of Students
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In a lawsuit filed on December 12, 2013 in the Southern District of New York, Zayas v. City of New York et al. (SDNY 13-cv-8808), plaintiff – photojournalist Angel Zayas – alleges that he was “forced out of the subway for trying to photograph police performing a stop-and-frisk and was then arrested for complaining about…

Read More Photojournalist’s False Arrest Lawsuit Against the City of New York
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In Dove v. Manhattan Plaza Health Club, the Appellate Division, First Department dismissed plaintiff’s complaint seeking recovery for injuries after slipping on water around a health club’s indoor pool. Defendants “showed that the presence of such water was ‘necessarily incidental’ to the use of the pool.” In response, plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue…

Read More Pool Slip/Fall Case Dismissed; Water Was “Necessarily Incidental” to Use of Pool
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In Doe v. Guthrie Clinic, Ltd., the New York Court of Appeals considered the following question: Whether, under New York law, the common law right of action for breach of the fiduciary duty of confidentiality for the unauthorized disclosure of medical information may run directly against medical corporations, even when the employee responsible for the breach is…

Read More Medical Corporation Not Absolutely Liable For Employee’s Disclosure of Patient’s Medical Information
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In Matter of Arcuri v. Kirkland, the Appellate Division, Third Department annulled a decision by a State Division of Human Rights (SDHR) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that GPA Development Corporation subjected its employees, Adam Bargy and Orlando Colon, to a hostile work environment based on sexual harassment and retaliated against them for complaining about it. The…

Read More Court Annuls NYS Division of Human Rights Finding That Male Employees Were Subjected to Gender-Based Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation
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