Hearsay About Cause of Fall Included in Hospital Report Should Not Have Been Presented to the Jury

In reversing a jury verdict in favor of the defendant, the First Department held that a hearsay statement about the cause of the plaintiff’s fall, contained in a hospital report, should not have been presented to the jury:

Generally, admissions not germane to the treatment or diagnosis of a plaintiff’s injuries are not admissible under the business records exception to the hearsay rule … . A hearsay entry in a hospital record as to the cause of an injury may be admissible at trial even if not germane to diagnosis, if the entry is inconsistent with a position taken at trial. However, there must be evidence that connects the party to the entry … .

…[P]laintiff testified that she slipped on a metal bracket protruding from a subway step. The hospital record indicating that she slipped on wet ground should not have been presented to the jury since there was no proper foundation for its admission, inasmuch as it was unclear whether plaintiff was the source of that information … . Indeed, plaintiff testified that she did not tell the orthopedic surgeon that she slipped on a wet surface. The admission of the hospital record thus was not harmless error since it went to the crux of plaintiff’s allegations. [Defendant’s] primary defense was that plaintiff slipped on wet ground, and not from its negligence … .  Grant v New York City Tr Auth, 3013 NY Slip Op 02318, 9211, 305841/08, 1st Dept 4-4-13

SLIP AND FALL