Before law school I waited tables for a bit. One time a group of customers at one of my tables left without paying their $30 (give or take) bill. My manager threatened to make me pay for it. I don’t remember whether he actually followed through with the threat – but if he had, and assuming…
Read More “Dine and Dash” Wage Lawsuit Against Pig N’ WhistleBelow is the state court complaint recently filed by Emily Feliciano against Starbucks and assistant manager Anthony Nunez. Among other things, plaintiff alleges that Nunez sexually harassed plaintiff verbally (such as by making an obscene observation that she was “wet”, telling her to call him “daddy”, and demanding sex) and physically (such as by trapping her…
Read More Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against StarbucksIn Krajniak v. Jin Y Trading, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed a summary judgment for plaintiff on the issue of liability in a car accident case, due to the defendant’s violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1141. The statute provides. The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left within an…
Read More Unsafe Left Turn Results in Proper Award of Summary Judgment to Plaintiff in Car Accident CaseA recent First Department decision, Abott v. City of New York, holds that the trial court properly dismissed plaintiff’s trip-and-fall complaint: The court properly directed a verdict for defendant City, as there was no rational process that would lead the trier of fact to find for plaintiff, who was injured after stepping into a pothole.…
Read More Pothole Injury Case Dismissed in Light of Prior RepairsIn Slattery v. Sachem N. High Sch., the Appellate Division, Second Department recently affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff claimed she “tripped and fell due to a difference in height between two concrete slabs of a sidewalk abutting the defendants’ premises.” The court explained the legal standard for determining…
Read More Sidewalk Defect Was Not “Trivial” as a Matter of Law; Trip-and-Fall Case ContinuesRecently an appellate court affirmed a trial court’s denial of a defendant’s motion for spoliation sanctions in a bicycle-related personal injury action. Here are the facts in Carlos v. Castillo, decided February 27, 2014: On January 26, 2009, plaintiff commenced this action seeking damages for injuries sustained on September 5, 2008, when, while riding a…
Read More Disposal of Bicycle Involved in Accident Did Not Give Rise to Spoliation Sanctions