January 2014

In Dixson v Waterways at Bay Pointe Home Owners Assn., Inc., the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the summary judgment dismissal of plaintiff’s injury claim under Labor Law § 241(6). The court held that plaintiff, who was injured while power washing buildings in preparation for painting them, was indeed engaged in a specifically enumerated activity under the…

Read More Power Washing in Preparation for Painting Was Sufficient to Support Personal Injury Action by Worker Under Labor Law § 241(6)
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In Pacheco v. Grabowski, a rear-end car accident case, the New York Supreme Court, Queens County, granted summary judgment in favor of the driver of the front (i.e., rear-ended) car. Plaintiff Yesenia Pacheco was a passenger in a car driven by her father, defendant Angel Pacheco.  While stopped at an intersection the Pacheco car was…

Read More Court Dismisses Claims Against Lead Driver in Rear-End Collision Case
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A recent Appellate Division, First Department case, Vivas v. VNO Bruckner Plaza LLC (decided January 7, 2014) illustrates the obvious point that in slip/trip and fall cases, specific attention must be paid to exactly where the accident occurred. The court reversed the trial court’s denial of defendant Payless Shoesource, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment, and…

Read More Tenant Absolved of Liability Where Slip/Trip and Fall Occurred in Location Outside Leased Premises
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In Trezza v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department recently affirmed and modified a decision by the Supreme Court, Bronx County relating to the damages phase of a car accident case. The trial court entered a judgment on a jury’s verdict awarding plaintiff damages in the amounts of $500,000 for past pain and…

Read More First Department Finds “Serious Injury” Based on Shoulder and Spine Injuries, and Conditionally Modifies Damages in Car Accident Case to $300,000 for Past Pain & Suffering
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In DaSilva v. New York City Transit Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment.  In this trip-and-fall case: Plaintiff allegedly tripped and fell on a step on stairway P4A which accesses a platform in the Rockefeller Center, IND division subway station. It appears that metal treads installed on the horizontal…

Read More Trip/Fall on Subway Steps Survives Summary Judgment
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Here is the pro se complaint recently filed by Gwen Goodwin against Melissa Mark-Viverito and Eastside Managers’ Associates.  Plaintiff lost the primary for the Democratic Party nomination for New York City Council for District 8. She alleged that defendants were responsible for the placement of this mural, which according to the complaint depicts a “decapitated and…

Read More Voodoo Lawsuit Against Melissa Mark-Viverito
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A recent Eastern District of New York decision, Berroyer v. U.S., illustrates that paying taxes can be literally painful. Plaintiff and his wife sued the United States of America under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b), seeking recovery for injuries sustained during a meeting with an IRS auditor. Plaintiff was injured when “his foot became caught…

Read More Fall in IRS Office Results in $712,000 Award
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In Addonisio v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department modified the trial court’s ruling and vacated the dismissal of plaintiff’s Labor Law § 241(6) claim against the City of New York and his Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence claims against Con Ed.  It affirmed, however, the dismissal of plaintiff’s Labor Law §…

Read More Electrocuted Worker Can Continue Suit Against the City of New York and Con Edison
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In Bellini v Gypsy Magic Enters., Inc., the Appellate Division, Second Department held that plaintiff’s complaint should have been dismissed.  Plaintiff alleged that she sustained injuries after she tripped and fell over a wheel stop located in a parking lot of a strip mall in Wantagh. “While a landowner has a duty to maintain its premises in…

Read More Since Wheel Stop Was “Open and Obvious”, Trip and Fall Complaint Should Have Been Dismissed
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