Bent v. Cirone — Condo board members face direct retaliation claims
The First Department reinstated direct claims against condominium board members accused of personally directing an animus-driven retaliation campaign.
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New York
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Martinez v. 56th Realty — First Department limits owner’s construction indemnity claim
The First Department held that possible negligence by a property owner’s managing agents prevented summary judgment on contractual indemnification under General Obligations Law § 5-322.1.
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Veliu v. Verizon — First Department sends Scaffold Law trench-injury claim to trial
A divided First Department held that conflicting accounts of a trench accident and evidence of available bracing precluded summary judgment under Labor Law § 240(1).
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Wells Fargo v. HBK Master Fund — First Department backs subordinate RMBS holders on deferred principal
The First Department upheld treatment of HAMP-deferred mortgage principal as subsequent recoveries that write up subordinate, but not senior, RMBS certificates.
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Broadway PT 1710 v. Kingdom Associates — First Department reinstates $1.075 million mechanic’s lien
The First Department held that Lien Law § 19(6) permits summary discharge only for defects visible on the lien’s face, not fact disputes over owner consent.
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Art Institute of Chicago search warrant — First Department vacates seizure of disputed Schiele painting
The First Department held that a criminal seizure proceeding could not conclusively transfer a disputed Egon Schiele painting without a civil title action and jury-trial protections.
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Hearns v. Blended Family — First Department says Wi-Fi cable work was not a Scaffold Law alteration
The First Department held that drilling two holes to run Wi-Fi cable did not significantly change a building and therefore fell outside Labor Law § 240(1).
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Delgado v. Trump Campaign — First Department separates New York and Nevada assault claims under CPLR 202
The First Department allowed New York assault and gender-violence claims to proceed under the Adult Survivors Act but dismissed Nevada-based emotional-distress allegations as untimely.
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Beauchamp v. NYC Transit Authority — First Department cuts $72 million injury verdict to $39.6 million
The First Department reduced a record-setting bus-injury verdict but sustained $37 million in pain-and-suffering damages for a plaintiff with catastrophic, permanent injuries.
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Riley v. Memorial Sloan Kettering — First Department applies Scaffold Law to a permanent staircase
The First Department held that a defective permanent staircase was a Labor Law § 240(1) safety device where no viable alternative route reached the work area.
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People v. G.O. — First Department upholds daily contempt damages for delayed psychiatric transfer
The First Department affirmed a $100-per-day contempt award after OMH left an incompetent defendant at Rikers for months beyond a court-ordered transfer deadline.
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Hoeben v. FCA US — First Department sends crashworthiness claims against three manufacturers to trial
The First Department found competing expert proof on vehicle electronics and crashworthiness sufficient to preserve design-defect, warning, warranty, and related claims.
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Gamma USA v. Pavarini McGovern — First Department narrows a $3.6 million construction-damages cap
The First Department held that a $3.6 million liquidated-damages cap applied to delay damages, not all direct damages in a Times Square construction pass-through claim.
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Matter of 57th & 6th Ground — Arbitrator partiality voids $301 million land valuation
The First Department vacated a $301.25 million Manhattan land valuation because the neutral umpire’s outside-employment discussions and later procedural rulings created prejudicial partiality.
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Jefferies v. Mountain State Energy — Broad nonrecourse clause defeats deal-interference claim
The First Department enforced a sophisticated-party nonrecourse clause to dismiss tortious-interference claims arising from a disputed energy-company equity transaction.
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Beach v. Touradji Capital Management — First Department reinstates hedge-fund jury verdict
The First Department reinstated a hedge-fund jury verdict, holding that overlapping facts and a theoretical risk of inconsistent findings did not justify retrying five rejected counterclaims.
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People v. Key — First Department sends gun case to Family Court under Raise the Age
The First Department exercised interest-of-justice discretion to send a 17-year-old’s weapon case to Family Court because prosecutors had not shown extraordinary circumstances overcoming Raise the Age’s removal presumption.
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Travelers v. Vale Canada — Gradual mine pollution falls within coverage exclusion
The First Department held that gradual acid-rock drainage fell within pollution exclusions and that Canadian law would not materially change the coverage result.
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Matter of HBK Master Fund v. NewRez — Zero-balance certificates cannot satisfy no-action clause
The First Department enforced an RMBS no-action clause because HBK’s zero-principal-balance certificates carried no voting rights when it demanded litigation.
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Lafferty v. Avila — Wrong date on DMV medical form sounds in ordinary negligence
The First Department held that inaccurately transcribing a seizure date onto a DMV physician form is ordinary negligence governed by a three-year limitations period.
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Fidelity National Title v. Sky Abstract — Guarantor cannot shift loss by common-law indemnity
The First Department held that a title agent’s guarantor lacked a common-law indemnity claim against a recording vendor that owed him no separate duty.
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Carrero-Santiago v. Asphalt Green — Recess contractor owed no duty for errant basketball
The First Department dismissed a school aide’s injury claim because a recess contractor owed no third-party duty and an errant basketball was an assumed risk.
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Astraea NYNY v. Ganley — First Department vacates Delaware antisuit injunction
The First Department vacated an antisuit injunction because a Delaware action over a later agreement did not threaten fraud or a gross wrong against the foreign court.
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Tobon v. Turner Construction — Moving scaffold triggers Scaffold Law liability
The First Department held that a scaffold can violate Labor Law § 240(1) by tipping during operation even without a physical defect, and rejected sole-proximate-cause and recalcitrant-worker defenses.