The Fourth Department reinstated battery and Human Rights Law claims, holding that consent, physical helplessness, and management participation presented fact questions.
The Fourth Department held that a free dealership courtesy vehicle is not a rental under the Graves Amendment, leaving New York owner liability intact.
The Fourth Department holds that a radiologist owes no duty to recommend a biopsy after identifying a hand mass on MRI — that obligation falls on the treating physician — while allowing the claim that the radiologist negligently misread the imaging to proceed to trial.
The Fourth Department affirms a $908,000 verdict against Erie County after a deputy’s incomplete U-turn blocks a bus lane, holding that the VTL § 1104 reckless disregard defense was validly precluded as a discovery sanction and that the directed verdict on negligence was proper.
The Fourth Department reinstates a slip-and-fall complaint against a snow removal contractor, finding that contractor’s actual salting practice on the day of the fall may have completely displaced the property owner’s duty to address ice, triggering an Espinal exception.
The Fourth Department reinstates a medical malpractice complaint against a hospital, finding hospital-issued scrubs, a Medical Staff badge, and emergency neonatal circumstances raise a triable question of apparent agency over independent-contractor neonatologists.
The Fourth Department held that Dryden Mutual’s wrongful coverage disclaimer was an anticipatory repudiation excusing the insured from forwarding suit papers, barring the insurer from challenging the $2.8 million default judgment in a § 3420 direct action, and requiring reinstatement of bad faith claims under the Pavia “gross disregard” standard.
The Fourth Department affirmed dismissal of a snow tubing personal injury claim against the State, holding that hitting a snow pile at the base of a hill was a foreseeable consequence of recreational sledding encompassed by the primary assumption of risk doctrine, and that the open and obvious snow piles did not unreasonably enhance that risk.
The Fourth Department reversed Supreme Court and granted a construction worker partial summary judgment under Labor Law § 240(1) after a CSL Plasma employee duct-taped tube socks over an A-frame ladder’s feet to protect newly installed tile, causing the ladder to slide and injuring the plaintiff.
The Fourth Department affirmed denial of Casella Waste Management’s motion to dismiss third-party claims arising from a fatal bulldozer accident, holding that the asset purchase agreement did not conclusively negate the Schumacher “mere continuation” and “merger” exceptions to successor corporate liability.
The Fourth Department affirmed denial of a homeowner’s motion for summary judgment dismissing third-party claims after a temporary basement staircase collapsed, holding that the homeowner’s instruction to use as few fasteners as possible raised triable questions about whether he created the dangerous condition.