New York Injury Lawyers Blog

In a recent Westchester County, NY personal injury, slip and fall lawsuit, the plaintiff nurse claimed that she had slipped on urine while assisting a handicapped teenager who attended school at the defendant Pines Bridge Program. The school was owned and operated by defendants, Putnam / Northern Westchester Board of Coop. Services, and the plaintiff was employed as a private nurse for the teenager.

The Trial Court awarded summary judgment to the defendants, and, on plaintiff's appeal, the New York State Appellate DIvision, Second Department reversed. The Appellate Court found that a "defendant moving for summary judgment in a slip and fall case has the burden of establishing, prima facie, that it neither created the alleged hazardous condition nor had actual or constructive notice of its existence."

According to the appellate decision, the defendants, in their motion for Summary Judgment, offered admissible evidence of general cleaning practices. However, the defendants failed to provide any evidence of specific cleaning or inspection on the day of plaintiff's fall, and thus failed to establish their entitlement to summary judgment.

Goodyear v Putnam/Northern Westchester Bd. of Coop. Educ. Servs., 2011 NY Slip Op 05950 [86 AD3d 551] (2d Dept. 2011).

The New York State Appellate Division, First Department, determined that summary judgment was properly denied in a recent case involving a slip-and-fall accident. The Plaintiff, Sentina Brown, and a co-worker provided testimony to the effect that, at the time of the accident, Ms. Brown slipped in water, that no warning signs were in place, that it was not raining and no water was leaking from the ceiling, and that Defendant's employee was standing nearby with a mop and bucket.

Ms. Brown's co-worker further testified that he saw the management company's employee mop the lobby at around the time of night the accident occurred. The First Department held that this evidence presented triable issues as to whether the management company created the condition upon which Plaintiff slipped. Defendant's presentation of evidence about its general cleaning practices and the schedule of its employee was insufficient to overcome Plaintiff's arguments. The management company had taken the position that the employee did not mop the lobby until three hours after the accident.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a slip and fall accident, please contact the New York Personal Injury Attorneys at Gallivan & Gallivan.

Brown v. Simon Dev. Co., 83 AD3d 544 (2011 1st Dept.).

The New York Appellate Division, Second Department recently held that in a slip-and-fall case, the plaintiff's inability to identify the cause of the fall is fatal to the case because any finding of negligence and its causal connection to the injury would be based on speculation.

At his deposition, the plaintiff was asked if he slipped because the step was slippery or because of a crack in the step. The plaintiff responded, "I really wouldn't know to tell you. I just put my foot forward and stepped on something and I flew in the air. So, I don't recall seeing or feeling anything." When the plaintiff was asked whether his right foot ever touched the second step, he replied, "I don't know exactly. I don't recall what happened. I think it did. I don't know."

The Court reasoned that because it is just as likely that the accident could have been caused by some other factor, any determination by the trier of fact as to the cause of the accident would be based upon guesswork. The Court further dismissed the plaintiff's expert engineer's report which alleged there were unsafe conditions in the staircase where the fall occurred since plaintiff failed to present any evidence connecting these alleged violations to the fall/injuries.

Rajwan v. 109.23 Owners Corp., 2011 NY Slip Op. 02649, 82 Ad3D 1199 (2d Dept 2011)

The Supreme Court Appellate Division (Second Department) recently rejected the defendant's arguments for summary judgment in Bloomfield v. Jericho Union Free School District a Long Island premises liability negligence case. The court ruled that the defendant school district did not meet its prima facie burden of proof for summary judgment.

The facts of the case are straight-forward. A young female student climbed atop an outside mat during gym class. While on the mat, the student's foot became caught in a tear in the mat, causing her to fall to the ground. The gym teacher, a substitute, was not near the girl when the fall occurred.

The defendant school district moved for summary judgment to dismiss the cause of action for premises liability (negligence). In such a motion, the burden of proof rests with the defendant to prove that it (the defendant) did not create the hazardous condition and was unaware of the condition's existence. If the condition is "open and obvious," a defendant has no duty to warn of the condition.

The Second Department ruled that the school district failed to establish that it did not have notice of the tear in the mat. The district also failed to establish that the tear was open and obvious. Because both of these issues present questions of fact, the court ruled that the matter could not be summarily dismissed.

Additionally, the court found that the defendant failed to establish that no questions of fact exist regarding the negligent supervision cause of action. The suit will now proceed to trial.

Bloomfield v. Jericho Union Free School District, 80 A.D.3d 637 (2d Dept. 2011).

A 79 year old Manhattan woman recently reached a pre-trial settlement for $300,000 after tripping and falling outside the defendant's building, breaking her humerus. The plaintiff cited a 15/16ths of an inch height differential in sidewalk flags outside the defendant's building. Settlement was reached despite contention from the defendant that he had no notice of the minimal height differential. Prior notice, whether actual or constructive, must be proven by a plaintiff in order to prevail in a slip and fall case.

One possible motivation for settlement for the defendant was the plaintiff's claim of permanent disability due to the resulting fracture after the fall. Regardless of motivation, the case is now settled, and certainly the defendant can now consider himself on notice about the height differential in the sidewalk outside his building.

Website Resource:

jvra.com

In a New York Slip and Fall Accident case, Defendant Madison Square Garden's motion for summary judgment was denied. Plaintiff slipped and fell on liquid on the floor of Madison Square Garden while attending a Rolling Stones concert. Plaintiff testified that after she fell her pants were wet and smelled like beer. The Madison Square Garden maintenance records indicated that the area had been mopped twice. However, the timing of both documented incidents of maintenance were well after Plaintiff's accident.

As a result, the Second Department held that Defendant failed to make a prima facie showing that it neither created nor had actual or constructive notice of the spill as it failed to proffer any evidence as to when the area was last cleaned prior to the fall.

Website Resource:

Zambri v Madison Sq. Garden, L.P., 2010 NY Slip Op 04370 [73 AD3d 1035], May 18, 2010.

A 48 year-old male postal employee was recently awarded $224,000 by a Nassau County, NY jury for injuries sustained in a slip and fall accident. Plaintiff claimed he tripped over an open sidewalk cellar door as he was exiting the defendant's commercial premises.

He had just delivered mail to the property. The sidewalk cellar door was located approximately one foot from the store entrance. The plaintiff maintained that the cellar doors had been closed when he entered the store. The plaintiff suffered multiple injuries including a deep laceration that required surgical repair, multiple disc herniations, and a torn medial meniscus.

Website Resource:

New York Jury Verdict Review and Analysis (158631) Nassau County, NY

According to a Journal News report of January 1, 2010, the cause of death of young Bronxville girl, Mihoko Fukuzawa, is still unknown. However, officials believe that she may have accidentally slipped on a slushy, icy patch of sidewalk and fallen on a rock in front of the Christ Church in Bronxville on Dec. 23, 2009. Authorities, who have not officially ruled out foul play, suspect that the Bronxville teen fell onto the rock that was lying to the left of her path as she was walking to mail a Christmas card on Sagamore Road. The rock measured about a foot high and a couple of feet wide.

The Westchester Medical Examiner notes that Fukuzawa suffered a lacerated liver caused by blunt force trauma. It is plausible that the injury occurred when her midsection slammed into the rock. A funeral was held for the girl on Wednesday.

Continue reading "White Plains Accident Lawyer Report: Bronxville Girl May Have Slipped & Fallen On Ice/Slush" »

A 45 year-old male reveler claimed that he slipped and fell on the defendant's sidewalk that was covered with snow and ice. Plaintiff contended that his fall was caused by snow that had been cleared and piled, which then melted, made its way back onto the sidewalk and re-froze (creating a hazardous condition). Defendant claimed that the plaintiff's drinking had caused the accident.

The fall occurred as plaintiff passed defendant's property, an outdoor parking lot on Ogden Avenue in the Bronx. As a result, plaintiff suffered a fracture in his foot that required surgical intervention. The plaintiff admitted that he had been drinking that night.

The Bronx jury awarded plaintiff $150,000.

In the New York personal injury case, Conway v. New York City Transit Authority, 26-year-old Daniel Conway slipped and fell at a Queens (NYC) subway station. He fell on the second highest step of the stairs and suffered fractures of both ankles. He underwent surgery on both ankles a few months later. At trial, an expert surgeon also testified that Mr. Conway will need additional surgeries in the future.

The Queens County jury found that the stairway was not reasonably safe and that the defendant's failure to maintain the stairway caused the accident. They returned a verdict of $1,000,000 ($200,000 for past pain and suffering and $800,000 for future pain and suffering).

On appeal, the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, upheld the amount of the verdict saying that "the jury's awards for past and future pain and suffering did not deviate materially from what would be considered reasonable compensation."

A 41 year-old female allegedly slipped and fell in a Brooklyn (NYC) parking lot of a catering hall. She claimed that the parking lot was dangerous due to uneven pavement. She reportedly fell, and suffered a tear of her quadricep. The owner of the parking lot denied that the lot was dangerous and questioned whether the incident actually occurred since it was unwitnessed.

Plaintiff asserted that the torn quadricep will cause permanent pain and limtitations. She has not undergone surgery because she fears that surgery would not improve her current condition. This matter settled pre-suit for $75,000.

Continue reading "Torn Quadricep Yields $75,000 Settlement In Queens County (NYC) Slip And Fall" »

The plaintiff, a 38 year-old administrative clerk employed by a tenant in an office building in Armonk, NY was recently awarded a $237,000 verdict by a Westchester County, New York jury. She claimed that she tripped and fell on an icy patch while exiting the building.

Plaintiff claimed that the owners of the building failed to properly remove the ice that had allegedly accumulated days before the fall. She further claimed that although the owners had tried to clear a path, they did so in a negligent manner. The defendant-owners argued that they should not be held liable because they had cleared a path. However, they acknowledged that the weather had warmed up and then got cold which caused the path to re-freeze. The defendants also argued that the plaintiff could have spread sand on the path herself (a bag of sand was left outside the building doors for tenants to use).

The plaintiff suffered a cervical sprain and a fracture of the clavicle. She underwent back surgery and physical therapy.

The Westchester jury found the plaintiff to be 30% responsible for the fall, but awarded her $237,000.

A Bronx (NYC) jury returned a $1,500,000 verdict in favor of a 52 year-old female plaintiff who allegedly slipped and fell on ice while trying to open a gate to her cooperative. She claimed that the management company and owners of the cooperative failed to apply salt in the gated parking lot despite icy conditions. Rain/snow had reportedly fallen for approximately 12 hours before the accident.

The plaintiff claimed that as she tried to open the locked gate, she slipped on the ice and hyper-extended her arm, suffered a cervical herniation and radiculopathy. Fusion surgery with the insertion of a permanent plate was performed.

The plaintiff introduced weather records which reflected that trace amount of precipitation fell both the night before and much of the day of the incident. The plaintiff elicited testimony from the superintendant that salt should be spread if such events cause an icy condition.

Continue reading "$1,500,000 Million Dollar Verdict In Bronx (NYC) Slip & Fall" »

A Bronx (NYC) jury recently awarded $2,106,874 to an employee of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority who suffered a fractured ankle when he fell at a tollbooth plaza of New York's Bronx Whitestone Bridge. The plaintiff fell on a pothole that was recently repaired in a lane that was designated for trucks.

The plaintiff alleged that the TBTA improperly allowed trucks to use the lane that was just repaired, causing the hole to reopen. The defense argued that the defect was not "significant." However, the incident was memorialized on video and the Bronx jury sided with the plaintiff.

The NY Accident Attorneys at Gallivan & Gallivan provide aggressive, effective representation to all our personal injury clients. If you or a loved one has been injured due to a dangerous condition at the workplace, please contact us for a free consultation.

Plaintiff, a 45 year-old butcher, slipped and fell while working at a New York grocery store. He allegedly fell on a solvent applied to machinery by an employee of the defendant owner of the store. The liquid reportedly dripped onto the floor after it was applied. Plaintiff alleged that the employee failed to properly apply the solvent and that the owner had failed to abide by its own protocols.

Plaintiff sustained a torn meniscus of his right knee. As a result of the injury, he could no longer work.

The plaintiff received a jury verdict of $940,000. However, the butcher was apportioned 20 percent of fault for the fall. His net recovery would have been $752,000, but that amount was reduced due to a high/low agreement ($500,000/$100,000) negotiated prior to trial.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury, contact the New York Personal Injury Attorneys at Gallivan & Gallivan for a free consultation.