Collateral Estoppel Precluded Plaintiff’s Action—Defendant’s Alleged Default Irrelevant

The Second Department determined defendant’s default did not preclude the dismissal of the complaint pursuant to the collateral estoppel doctrine:

“The litigant seeking the benefit of collateral estoppel must demonstrate that the decisive issue was necessarily decided in the prior action against a party,” and “the party to be precluded from relitigating the issue bears the burden of demonstrating the absence of a full and fair opportunity to contest the prior determination” … .

Here, the defendant established that the decisive issues in this case were necessarily decided against the plaintiff in the prior case, and the plaintiff failed to demonstrate that he was not afforded a full and fair opportunity to contest that prior determination. Thus, the doctrine of collateral estoppel barred the plaintiff from maintaining this action. Although the defendant allegedly defaulted in answering the complaint in the instant action, even where such a default has occurred, a plaintiff is only entitled to a default judgment if the complaint states a viable cause of action … . Under these circumstances, the plaintiff has no viable cause of action against the defendant that would warrant entry of a default judgment against it … . Abrahams v Commonwealth Land Tit Ins Co, 2014 NY Slip Op 06042, 2nd Dept 9-10-14