You are here: / / COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BASED UPON DESIGN OF STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM, PLAINTIFFS...
,

COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BASED UPON DESIGN OF STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT ALLEGING NEGLIGENT MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM.

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the county’s motion for summary judgment should have been granted. During a hurricane, a county drainage system overflowed and damaged plaintiffs’ property. The county was immune from suit based upon the design and placement of the drainage system. And the plaintiff’s failed to raise a question of fact concerning the allegation the county negligently maintained the drainage system:

… [T]o the extent that plaintiffs’ negligence claim alleges that defendant failed to adequately design or redesign the drainage system, it cannot be maintained. Decisions “‘determining when and where [drainage ditches] shall be built, of what size and at what level, are of a quasi judicial nature, involving the exercise of deliberate judgment and large discretion . . . [which] is not subject to revision by a court or jury in a private action for not sufficiently draining a particular lot of land'” … .

The act of maintaining a drainage system, on the other hand, is ministerial in nature and, thus, governmental immunity will not insulate defendant from plaintiffs’ alternative claim that it did so negligently … . “Nonetheless, [defendant] is not an insurer of its [drainage] system and cannot be held liable for injury unless it is shown that the injury was caused by active negligence in the maintenance of the system” … . Watt v County of Albany, 2016 NY Slip Op 04281, 3rd Dept 6-2-16

 

MUNICIPAL LAW (COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BASED UPON DESIGN OF STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT ALLEGING NEGLIGENT MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM)/IMMUNITY (GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY, COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BASED UPON DESIGN OF STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT ALLEGING NEGLIGENT MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM)/STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEMS (COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BASED UPON DESIGN OF STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM, PLAINTIFFS DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT ALLEGING NEGLIGENT MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM)

You might also like
THE JURY WAS PROPERLY INSTRUCTED ON THE DOCTRINE OF RES IPSA LOQUITUR; PLAINTIFF WAS INJURED WHEN AN AUDITORIUM RISER COLLAPSED WHEN SHE WAS WALKING ON IT (THIRD DEPT).
Claimant’s Imprisonment for a Month After His Release Date Was Not Privileged
CLAIMANT’S MATTER WAS FULLY CLOSED AND WAS PROPERLY TRANSFERRED TO THE SPECIAL FUND FOR REOPENED CASES, DESPITE CONTINUING PAYMENTS FOR MEDICAL CARE AND TREATMENT (THIRD DEPT).
Father’s Incarceration Justified a Modification of Custody/Sole Custody Awarded to Mother
Address Errors Rendered Designating Petition Invalid—Petitioner Not Entitled to “Opportunity to Ballot”
Untimely Initial Appearance Does Not Mandate Dismissal as Long as the Right to a Speedy Fact-Finding Hearing Is Not Violated
THE SOURCE CODE USED TO CONNECT DNA FROM THE MURDER SCENE TO THE DEFENDANT GENERATED A REPORT WHICH IMPLICATED THE DEFENDANT AND WAS THEREFORE TESTIMONIAL, HOWEVER, THE SOURCE CODE, AS A FORM OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, WAS NOT THE DECLARANT; THEREFORE THE FACT THAT DEFENDANT WAS NOT PROVIDED WITH THE SOURCE CODE DID NOT VIOLATE HIS RIGHT TO CONFRONT THE WITNESSES AGAINST HIM (THIRD DEPT).
DEFENDANT PLED GUILTY IN RETURN FOR A SENTENCE WHICH WAS LATER DETERMINED TO BE UNAUTHORIZED; DEFENDANT THEN CONSENTED TO A RESENTENCE WHICH WAS LONGER THAN THAT ORIGINALLY PROMISED; BECAUSE DEFENDANT WAS NOT EXPRESSLY AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO WITHDRAW HER PLEA, THE RESENTENCE WAS VACATED AND THE MATTER REMITTED; THE SENTENCING JUDGE CAN FASHION A SENTENCE WHICH IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ORIGINAL PROMISE BY REDUCING THE OFFENSE CHARGED (THIRD DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

NYC LOCAL LAW REQUIRING DISCLOSURE ABOUT THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR CONSTRUCTION... PETITIONER’S EMPIRE ZONE CERTIFICATION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REVOKED.