The Second Department determined the plaintiff’s false arrest and false imprisonment complaint was properly dismissed. Although plaintiff appeared at the General Municipal Law § 50-h hearing, he did not answer all of the questions posed by the defendant city’s attorney and he did not invoke the Fifth Amendment. Because the 50-h hearing is a condition precedent to the suit against the city, dismissal was required:
The purpose of the statutory notice of claim requirement is to afford the public corporation an adequate opportunity to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding an alleged occurrence and to explore the merits of the claim while information is readily available … . The oral examination of the claimant pursuant to General Municipal Law § 50-h serves to supplement the notice of claim and provides an investigatory tool to the public corporation, with a view toward settlement… . “Compliance with a demand for a General Municipal Law § 50-h examination is a condition precedent to the commencement of an action against a municipal defendant, and the failure to so comply warrants dismissal of the action”… .
Here, while the plaintiff appeared for the scheduled examination, he failed to answer many of the questions that were posed to him, and he never invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Since he failed to assert his privilege at the time he was relying on it, he was unable to benefit from it … . Even if the plaintiff had properly asserted his privilege, he was obligated to schedule a new General Municipal Law § 50-h examination after his criminal case ended, but he failed to do so … . Instead, the plaintiff simply commenced an action in January 2016 without indicating the status of the criminal charges. Di Pompo v City of Beacon Police Dept., 2017 NY Slip Op 06059, Second Dept 8-9-17
MUNICIPAL LAW (50-H HEARING, FALSE ARREST, FALSE IMPRISONMENT, FAILURE TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS AT THE 50-H HEARING REQUIRED DISMISSAL OF THIS FALSE ARREST AND FALSE IMPRISONMENT ACTION (SECOND DEPT))/50-H HEARING (MUNICIPAL LAW, FAILURE TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS AT THE 50-H HEARING REQUIRED DISMISSAL OF THIS FALSE ARREST AND FALSE IMPRISONMENT ACTION (SECOND DEPT))/FALSE ARREST (50-H HEARING, FAILURE TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS AT THE 50-H HEARING REQUIRED DISMISSAL OF THIS FALSE ARREST AND FALSE IMPRISONMENT ACTION (SECOND DEPT))/FALSE IMPRISONMENT (50-H HEARING, FAILURE TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS AT THE 50-H HEARING REQUIRED DISMISSAL OF THIS FALSE ARREST AND FALSE IMPRISONMENT ACTION (SECOND DEPT))