Negligence

Make Sure Your Expert Backs Up Their Findings (NY)

In Augustus v. Negron, 2022 NY Slip Op 06255 (2nd Dep’t, Nov 9, 2022), plaintiff brought suit after a motor vehicle accident. Pursuant to New York State Insurance Law, a plaintiff has to establish that he/she suffered a serious injury pursuant to Insurance Law § 5102(d). A failure to do so in motor vehicle accident means the plaintiff would not be able to sustain a lawsuit in New York. After...Read More

Let’s Go To The Videotape-Plaintiff’s Case Dismissed Because Testimony Doesn’t Match The Video Camera Tape (NY)

In Batista v. Metropolitan Transp. Auth., 2022 NY Slip Op 06419 (1st Dept. 2022), plaintiff sued the MTA alleging that he made a left-hand turn in front of a bus, which collided with his rear bumper. Plaintiff testified that the bus was “halfway down the block when he started to make his left-hand turn.”  However, plaintiff’s testimony contradicted the bus driver’s testimony and the video...Read More

Unread Emails Leads to Dismissal (PA)

In Dukich v. Ikea US Retail LLC, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found that a defendant cannot be liable for consumer fraud or negligence in connection with a product recall because none of the plaintiffs established any false or misleading statement from defendant. In 2016 and 2017 Ikea issued two separate recalls on its “MALM” line of dressers when it became aware of deaths and injuries...Read More

Lack of Ownership May Not be Sufficient to Defeat Summary Judgment on Premises Claim (NY)

When a plaintiff slips and falls on property owned by a town, the town may not be the party on the hook. Generally, if a defendant is able to sufficiently establish that it did not occupy, or control the location where the accident occurred, it will not be held liable for the alleged injuries. In certain circumstances they must also establish they did not make special use of the premise to...Read More

Helmet Safety – Court Permits Defense Expert Testimony on Impact of Helmet Usage (PA)

In Nelson v. American Honda 2 1:18-cv-000210 (W.D. Pa. August 23, 2022), the Court denied  a Plaintiff’s motion to preclude testimony of an expert witness who would testify on the impact a helmet would have in a fatal all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accident.  Seventeen-year-old Dylan Fehlman died while driving an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) manufactured by American Honda Motor Company, Inc. (Honda)...Read More

NY Appellate Court Affirms “Reasonably Safe” Requirement of Property Owner in Dismissal of Premises Case

In Shuttleworth v. Saint Margaret’s R.C. Church in Middle Village, 2022 NY Slip Op 05730, (2nd Dept. 2022), plaintiff slipped and fell on a metal drainage grating while it was raining. The defendant property owner moved for summary judgment arguing that the condition was not defective at the time of the incident. The trial court denied defendant’s motion but the Second Department...Read More

Open And Obvious Danger Leaves Plaintiff In the Pit (NY)

In Lebron v. City of New York, NY Slip Op 04960 (2nd Dept. 2022), a claim was filed by plaintiff when he fell into an inspection pit for vehicles at the garage facility operated by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission. Defendants moved for summary judgment arguing that the condition was an open and obvious defect and it did not require any duty by the property owner to warn the...Read More

Pennsylvania Landowners Also Have a Duty to Protect Invitees from Intentional Harm

In Massaro v. McDonalds Corporation, the Pennsylvania Superior Court found that landowners had an affirmative duty to protect invitees from intentional harmful acts of third parties. On September 21, 2018, the plaintiff, Thomas Massaro, went to a McDonald’s restaurant in Philadelphia to tutor a student. While tutoring the student, a man named Bryant Gordon entered the store and began berating...Read More

The Third Circuit’s Stance: Cell Phone Use While Driving & Punitive Damages (PA)

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently refused to dismiss the punitive damages claims a plaintiff passenger asserted against a Greyhound bus driver and his employers. In Brown v. White, the plaintiff, Jasmine Brown was taking an overnight Greyhound bus from New York City to Pittsburgh in the early morning hours of August 1, 2020 when the defendant bus driver,...Read More

Plaintiff Hurt In A Pickup Game Found To Have Assumed The Risk Of Injury (NY)

In Lungen v. Harbors Haverstraw Homeowners Assn., Inc., the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, addressed whether a plaintiff injured while playing in a basketball “pickup” game assumed the risk of his injuries. Plaintiff alleged to have fallen when he slipped on condensation on the floor of a gym. The defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that plaintiff had assumed...Read More