You are here: / / DEFENDANT HOME CARE AGENCY WAS HIRED BY DEFENDANT HEALTHCARE PLAN AS AN...
, , ,

DEFENDANT HOME CARE AGENCY WAS HIRED BY DEFENDANT HEALTHCARE PLAN AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR, NOT AN EMPLOYEE; THEREFORE THE HEALTHCARE PLAN WAS NOT LIABLE FOR THE ALLEGED ASSAULT, BATTERY AND NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION COMMITED BY AN EMPLOYEE OF THE HOME CARE AGENCY (FIRST DEPT). ​

The First Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined that Lighthouse, the parent company of GuildNet, a long-term healthcare plan, could not be held liable for the assault, battery and negligence allegedly committed by an employee of Ellison Home Care Companion Agency, which provided healthcare aides who attended to plaintiff’s mother. Plaintiff alleged his mother was assaulted and battered by Shaw, who was employed by Ellison. The contract between GuildNet and Ellison described Ellison as an independent contractor. Because Shaw was not GuldNet’s employee, GuildNet was not vicariously liable for Shaw’s actions:

The assault, battery, and negligence claims should have been dismissed as against GuildNet on the ground that Shaw was not its employee at the time of the underlying events. GuildNet and Ellison’s Participating Provider Agreement expressly defined their relationship as one of independent contractors rather than employer-employee … . The record discloses that GuildNet had only incidental control and general supervisory power over Ellison’s work, which is insufficient to establish an employer-employee relationship … . Further, Ellison admitted that Shaw was its employee and acting within the scope of her employment at the time of the underlying events.

The remaining claim for negligent supervision should also have been dismissed. To the extent that it is predicated on GuildNet’s alleged failure to supervise Shaw despite knowledge of her “propensity for the sort of behavior which caused” [plainiff’s mother’s] injuries and death … , Shaw was not GuildNet’s employee, and the record is bereft of any information that could impute to GuildNet knowledge of her propensity either to commit assault or battery or to ignore a client in distress … . To the extent that the claim is instead predicated on GuildNet’s alleged failure to supervise the care that [plaintiff’s mother] received, namely, by failing to assign a competent agency to assign a competent home health care aide to work with [her], plaintiff has not identified how such a failure proximately caused [her] injuries and death, assuming that GuildNet even had a duty to do so in the first place … . Pander v GuildNet, Inc., 2026 NY Slip Op 00201, First Dep-15-26

Practice Point: A party which hires a party as an “independent contractor” and does not exercise supervisory control over the independent contractor’s work will not be vicariously liable for wrongdoing by the independent contractor.

 

You might also like
VENTILATOR FROM WHICH PLAINTIFF FELL WAS NOT A SAFETY DEVICE, HOWEVER THE FACT THAT PLAINTIFF COULD NOT REACH THE VENTILATOR FROM THE LADDER ENTITLED HIM TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION, A VIOLATION OF LABOR LAW 240 (1) IS NOT A FINDING OF NEGLIGENCE, LANDLORD ENTITLED TO INDEMNIFICATION UNDER THE LEASE TERMS (FIRST DEPT).
Conviction Based Upon Plea Where Defendant Was Not Advised of the Period of Postrelease Supervision Is Unconstitutional for Predicate Felony Purposes—Catu Applied Retroactively
SCAFFOLD TIPPED PINNING PLAINTIFF’S HAND AGAINST A WALL; SPECULATIVE EVIDENCE DID NOT RAISE A QUESTION OF FACT ABOUT PLAINTIFF’S ACTIONS BEING THE SOLE PROXIMATE CAUSE; PLAINTIFF WAS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION (FIRST DEPT).
THE DETAILED STATUTORY SCHEME OF THE REVISED LIMITED PARTNERSHIP ACT (RLPA) PRECLUDED ENFORCEMENT OF THE UNSIGNED PURPORTED AMENDMENT TO THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (FIRST DEPT). ​
Supreme Court’s Denial of Application for Stationary Engineer License Based on Applicant’s Criminal Record Reversed
CONTRACT BETWEEN NYU AND A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CANCER-INHIBITING DRUG IS AMBIGUOUS, NYU’S COMPLAINT SEEKING ROYALTIES SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED.
HEARSAY STATEMENTS IN AN UNCERTIFIED, UNAUTHENTICATED REPORT FOR WHICH NO FOUNDATION WAS PROVIDED DID NOT CREATE AN ISSUE OF FACT (FIRST DEPT).
IT IS ONLY PURSUANT TO EXECUTIVE LAW 63(3) THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (AS OPPOSED TO A COUNTY PROSECUTOR) IS EMPOWERED BRING A CRIMINAL PROSECUTION; THE EXECUTIVE LAW ALLOWS REQUESTS FOR AN AG PROSECUTION ONLY FROM THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH, NOT THE JUDICIAL BRANCH; HERE THE CHIEF JUDGE REQUESTED THE PROSECUTION; A WRIT OF PROHIBITION ENJOINING THE PROSECUTION WAS GRANTED (FIRST 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

THE RECORD DOES NOT DEMONSTRATE THE WAIVER OF INDICTMENT WAS SIGNED IN OPEN... THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE COMPLAINT SUPPORTED “PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL;”...