Second Department affirms that the Presbytery holds a trust interest in a departing congregation’s 240 Main Street property under PCUSA’s constitutional trust clause and New York’s neutral principles of law approach.
Second Department affirms DHCR’s use of a prior 2014 rent overcharge order to calculate base date rent in a 2017 rent stabilization complaint, applying deferential Article 78 rational basis review.
Second Department affirms denial of summary judgment for Archdiocese of New York and Church of St. Bernard in a CVA case alleging 1960s abuse: defendants failed to eliminate triable issues of fact as to constructive notice of the abuser’s propensity.
Second Department modifies ASA ruling against Goodyear: post-18 IIED and negligence claims dismissed on respondeat superior and WCL exclusivity grounds, but NY Human Rights Law hostile work environment claim survives.
Second Department affirms duty to defend general contractor as additional insured where injured worker’s deposition in the underlying action established he was using the subcontractor’s ladder — applying the four corners rule’s exception for formal litigation submissions.
Second Department affirms that a HOA lien foreclosure purchaser who recorded its deed after a bank notice of pendency was filed had constructive notice of the bank foreclosure and cannot pursue a quiet title claim under RPAPL article 15.
Second Department reverses § 240(1) summary judgment where worker struck by unknown object from upper scaffold: plaintiff must identify the object and show it was being hoisted or required securing.
Second Department affirms Labor Law § 240(1) liability where worker was directed to climb a seven-foot stack of doors without a ladder, and upholds CPLR 3126 preclusion of an undisclosed defense witness.
The Appellate Division, Second Department holds that a trial court exceeded its authority by sua sponte converting a trespass and nuisance action into an RPAPL 881 special proceeding, while affirming the preliminary injunction against renovation work on a plaintiff’s adjoining Brooklyn property wall and rejecting dismissal of the trespass and nuisance claims.
The Appellate Division, Second Department reverses a Court of Claims denial of a late-claim motion, holding that the claimants’ submission sufficiently demonstrated the claim’s apparent merits—a critical statutory factor under Court of Claims Act § 10(6)—even though the court found no reasonable excuse for the delay in identifying the State as the road’s owner.
The Appellate Division, Second Department partially reverses summary judgment in favor of Good Samaritan Hospital in a spinal surgery malpractice action, holding that the hospital may be vicariously liable for post-discharge outpatient radiology services ordered by the treating surgeon through the hospital—extending the accrual date for the hospital’s limitations defense.
In the companion appeal to the WDF v. Pegno construction dispute over a Newtown Creek project liquidating agreement, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirms denial of summary judgment to the joint venture defendants on their release defense, holding that the release clause is ambiguous as to claims arising from the post-execution City settlement.
In companion decisions on cross-appeals, the Appellate Division, Second Department holds that the release clause in a construction subcontract liquidating agreement is ambiguous as to whether it bars claims arising from the joint venture’s post-execution settlement with the City of New York—leaving the scope of the release and the parties’ cooperation obligations for trial.
The Appellate Division, Second Department affirms the annulment of a planning board’s denial of a mixed-use development application, holding that the board’s conclusory determinations—issued only eight months after it issued a SEQRA negative declaration supporting the project—were arbitrary and capricious because the board offered no factual findings or reasoning to explain the reversal.
The Appellate Division, Second Department affirms denial of a CPLR 3211 motion to dismiss gender- and national-origin discrimination, retaliation, and aiding-and-abetting claims against French Connection’s holding companies and individual supervisors, and allows jurisdictional discovery to proceed on the English parent holding company.
The Appellate Division, Second Department reverses denial of summary judgment and orders specific performance of a commercial real estate contract, holding that docketed Environmental Control Board judgments are liens that the seller must discharge at or before closing under a contract requiring conveyance free of all encumbrances.
The Appellate Division, Second Department affirms that a commercial landlord cannot enforce lease provisions requiring a tenant to hold the landlord harmless and bear sole insurance obligations when the landlord’s own negligence caused the tenant’s property damage—here, a roof collapse. General Obligations Law § 5-321 voids the exculpatory clauses.
The Appellate Division, Second Department affirms dismissal of a healthcare operator’s COVID-19 business interruption claims against more than a dozen insurers, holding that COVID-19’s presence did not constitute ‘direct physical loss of or direct physical damage to’ covered property under commercial all-risks policies.
The Appellate Division, Second Department reverses a trial court’s post-verdict dismissal and reinstates a jury’s finding that an FDNY ambulance struck a bicyclist at a Brooklyn intersection and fled the scene, holding that GPS evidence and eyewitness testimony provided a rational basis for the verdict.
The Appellate Division, Second Department holds that General Obligations Law § 5-335 bars an employer’s disability insurer from recovering, through subrogation, short-term disability benefits paid to an injured worker who settles a personal injury action—even though Workers’ Compensation Law § 227 authorizes such liens.
The Appellate Division, Second Department affirms summary judgment dismissing race discrimination and retaliation claims under the NYSHRL and NYCHRL brought by a former MetroPlus executive whose employment was terminated following a state Medicaid audit, finding defendants provided a legitimate non-discriminatory reason that plaintiff failed to show was pretextual.
The Appellate Division, Second Department partially reverses dismissal of a homeowner’s claims against a fire-damage contractor who deposited a two-party insurance check without the homeowner’s endorsement, holding the conversion and unjust enrichment claims against the corporation survive the contractor’s authorization form defense.
The Appellate Division, Second Department holds that a property owner whose building partially collapsed due to unsupported neighboring excavation work may amend its complaint under CPLR 3025(b) to add the consulting engineer whose negligence allegedly contributed to the collapse, even though the amendment comes years into the litigation.
The Appellate Division, Second Department vacates a $2.5 million default judgment against a funeral home and orders a new inquest, finding the lower court abused its discretion in failing to vacate the inquest ruling in the face of evidence that the damages determination was improperly rendered.