IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE, THE DEFENDANTS DEMONSTRATED MEDICAL RECORDS PERTAINING TO PLAINTIFF’S PRIOR ANKLE INJURY WERE MATERIAL AND NECESSARY TO THE DEFENSE; DISCOVERY OF THOSE RECORDS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined defendants were entitled to discovery of the medical records for plaintiff’s prior injuries in this slip and fall case. Although the facts are not explained, the appellate court deemed he medical records relevant to whether plaintiff was negligent:
The plaintiff Shadia Hamed allegedly sustained personal injuries when she slipped and fell in a building owned and operated by the defendants. The plaintiff commenced this action alleging, inter alia, that the defendants negligently maintained their premises in an unsafe condition.
The defendants moved pursuant to CPLR 3124 to compel the plaintiff to provide certain discovery, including authorizations to obtain medical records related to the plaintiff’s treatment for pre-existing injuries to her right ankle. The defendants argued that these medical records were material and necessary to their defense of this action because these records were necessary to establish the plaintiff’s negligence. …
… Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in only conditionally granting that branch of the defendants’ motion which was to compel the plaintiff to provide medical records pertaining to her pre-existing injury to her right ankle only in the event that the plaintiff ‘claims any effects on her gait or mobility as a result of this incident.’ The defendants established that these records are material and necessary to the defense of this action (see CPLR 3101[a][1]). Hamed v Alas Realty Corp., 2022 NY Slip Op 05518, Second Dept 10-5-22
Practice Point: In this slip and fall case, the medical records pertaining to plaintiff’s prior ankle injury were deemed material and necessary to the the defense, i.e., necessary to demonstrate plaintiff’s negligence. Therefore discovery of those records should not have been restricted.