Failure to Accurately Identify Where Slip and Fall Occurred in Notice of Claim Warranted Dismissal of Complaint
The First Department, over a dissent, determined a slip and fall complaint should have been dismissed because the notice of claim did not accurately identify the place where the fall occurred:
Under these circumstances, Supreme Court should have granted defendant summary judgment dismissing the complaint. In addition to giving a vague description in his notice of claim that did not describe the location of the alleged defect with sufficient particularity …, plaintiff gave contradictory versions of the accident location, which further rendered the notice of claim defective, since it served to obscure the correct location. Plaintiff did not advise defendant of the revised location until more than three years after the alleged accident, which prejudiced defendant’s ability to conduct a meaningful and timely investigation of the claim… . Robles v New York City Hous Auth, 2014 NY Slip Op 00181, 1st Dept 1-14-14