PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF HER FALL FROM A FIRE ESCAPE, OPPOSITION PAPERS RAISED A FEIGNED ISSUE OF FACT, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff could not identify the cause of her fall from a fire escape and defendant's motion for summary judgment should have been granted. The cause of the fall alleged in the opposition papers was deemed a feigned issue of fact:
The defendant established its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law through the plaintiff's deposition testimony, which demonstrated that the plaintiff was unable to identify the cause of her fall … . In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact … . The plaintiff's affidavit, in which she identified the cause of her fall as a “rusted metal shard” from the fire escape ladder, which pierced her hand, presented what appears to be a feigned issue of fact, designed to avoid the consequences of her earlier deposition testimony that her hand was “thrown off” the ladder, but she did not know why … . Under these circumstances, it would be speculative to conclude that any of the alleged statutory and building code violations or dangerous conditions set forth in her expert's affidavit, even if fully credited, proximately caused her accident … . Burns v Linden St. Realty, LLC, 2018 NY Slip Op 06876, Second Dept 10-17-18
NEGLIGENCE (PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF HER FALL FROM A FIRE ESCAPE, OPPOSITION PAPERS RAISED A FEIGNED ISSUE OF FACT, DEFENDANT'S SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/EVIDENCE (NEGLIGENCE, (PLAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF HER FALL FROM A FIRE ESCAPE, OPPOSITION PAPERS RAISED A FEIGNED ISSUE OF FACT, DEFENDANT'S SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))/LADDERS (FIRE ESCAPE, NEGLIGENCE, LAINTIFF COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF HER FALL FROM A FIRE ESCAPE, OPPOSITION PAPERS RAISED A FEIGNED ISSUE OF FACT, DEFENDANT'S SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT))