The Second Department determined plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in this car accident case was properly denied because plaintiff did not demonstrate the absence of comparative fault:
There can be more than one proximate cause of an accident … . Accordingly, a plaintiff moving for summary judgment on the issue of liability in a personal injury action has the burden of establishing, prima facie, not only the defendant’s negligence, but also the absence of his or her comparative fault … . Here, although the plaintiff demonstrated that [defendant] was negligent … , the plaintiff failed to demonstrate the absence of his own comparative fault … . The plaintiff’s failure to satisfy his burden required the denial of his motion without regard to the sufficiency of the evidence that the defendants submitted in opposition … . Padilla v Biel, 2016 NY Slip Op 07009, 2nd Dept 10-25-16
NEGLIGENCE (PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE FAULT IN THIS CAR ACCIDENT CASE REQUIRED DENIAL OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT WITHOUT REGARD TO OPPOSING PAPERS)/SUMMARY JUDGMENT (NEGLIGENCE, PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE FAULT IN THIS CAR ACCIDENT CASE REQUIRED DENIAL OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT WITHOUT REGARD TO OPPOSING PAPERS)/COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE FAULT IN THIS CAR ACCIDENT CASE REQUIRED DENIAL OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT WITHOUT REGARD TO OPPOSING PAPERS)/VEHICLE ACCIDENTS (PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF COMPARATIVE FAULT IN THIS CAR ACCIDENT CASE REQUIRED DENIAL OF SUMMARY JUDGMENT WITHOUT REGARD TO OPPOSING PAPERS)