You are here: / / COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BY STUDENT ASSAULTED BY A WORKER, A LEVEL THREE...
,

COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BY STUDENT ASSAULTED BY A WORKER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER, WHO WAS REFERRED BY THE COUNTY AS PART OF A WELFARE TO WORK PROGRAM.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge DiFiore, determined the county was immune from suit by a student who was assaulted by a worker at a county-owned facility. The worker was referred to the lessee of the premises, the North Amityville Community Economic Council (NACEC), as part of a welfare to work program. NACEC only accepted referrals for persons with no criminal record. The Suffolk County Department of Labor (SWEP) referred the worker despite knowledge of his status as a level three sex offender. The court determined the county was acting in its governmental, not proprietary, capacity when it referred the worker and there was no special relationship between the county and the victim of the assault:

In this case, the specific act or omission that caused plaintiff’s injury was the County’s referral of Smith to NACEC through the County’s SWEP program, a referral made in spite of NACEC’s caveat that it would not accept candidates with a criminal record. The administration of SWEP … was quintessentially a governmental role. The County’s conduct in referring Smith was undertaken solely in connection with its administration of that program and was part of the County’s fundamental governmental activity. Therefore, we hold that the County was acting in its governmental capacity when it referred Smith to NACEC. * * *

There is no view of the evidence that could allow one to conclude that the County voluntarily assumed a special duty to plaintiff. Even if the County promised that it would not refer anyone with a criminal background, that promise would have been made only to NACEC and there is no evidence that plaintiff ever had any knowledge of NACEC’s request. In addition, … it is undisputed that there was no direct contact between plaintiff and the County. Tara N.P. v Western Suffolk Bd. of Coop. Educ. Servs., 2017 NY Slip Op 01255, CtApp 2-16-17

 

MUNICIPAL LAW (COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BY STUDENT ASSAULTED BY A WORKER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER, WHO WAS REFERRED BY THE COUNTY AS PART OF A WELFARE TO WORK PROGRAM)/IMMUNITY (COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BY STUDENT ASSAULTED BY A WORKER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER, WHO WAS REFERRED BY THE COUNTY AS PART OF A WELFARE TO WORK PROGRAM)/GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION (MUNICIPAL LAW, IMMUNITY, COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BY STUDENT ASSAULTED BY A WORKER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER, WHO WAS REFERRED BY THE COUNTY AS PART OF A WELFARE TO WORK PROGRAM)/PROPRIETARY FUNCTION (MUNICIPAL LAW, IMMUNITY, COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BY STUDENT ASSAULTED BY A WORKER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER, WHO WAS REFERRED BY THE COUNTY AS PART OF A WELFARE TO WORK PROGRAM)/SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP (MUNICIPAL LAW, IMMUNITY, COUNTY IMMUNE FROM SUIT BY STUDENT ASSAULTED BY A WORKER, A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER, WHO WAS REFERRED BY THE COUNTY AS PART OF A WELFARE TO WORK PROGRAM) 

You might also like
CONSULT THIS OPINION FOR IN-DEPTH DISCUSSIONS OF WHEN POSTREADINESS DELAY SHOULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE PEOPLE; THE DISSENT ARGUED THIS RULING UPENDS DECADES OF PRECEDENT BY ATTRIBUTING A DELAY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE COURT TO THE PEOPLE, RESULTING IN A SPEEDY-TRIAL VIOLATION (CT APP). ​
FAILURE TO PROVIDE MEANINGFUL NOTICE OF THE CONTENTS OF A JURY NOTE IS A MODE OF PROCEEDINGS ERROR WHICH NEED NOT BE PRESERVED; FAILURE TO PROVIDE A MEANINGFUL RESPONSE TO A JURY NOTE, HOWEVER, IS NOT A MODE OF PROCEEDINGS ERROR AND MUST BE PRESERVED BY OBJECTION.
PETITIONER WAS INITIALLY APPROVED FOR PAROLE, BUT AFTER THE VICTIM IMPACT HEARING A RESCISSION HEARING WAS HELD AND PAROLE WAS RESCINDED; THE RESCISSION WAS PROPERLY BASED UPON VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS SUPPLYING INFORMATION WHICH WAS NOT “NEW” BUT WHICH WAS NOT PREVIOUSLY KNOWN TO THE PAROLE BOARD (CT APP).
HERE DEFENDANT’S SENTENCE WAS REDUCED PURSUANT TO THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS JUSTICE ACT (DVSJA) AFTER SHE HAD BEEN IMPRISONED LONGER THAN THE MAXIMUM ALLOWED BY THE DVSJA; THE EXCESS PRISON TIME SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CREDITED TO ELIMINATE THE PERIOD OF POSTRELEASE SUPERVISION (CT APP).
THE TRAFFIC STOP WAS VALID, BUT THE POLICE OFFICERS SAW NOTHING TO INDICATE A WEAPON WAS IN THE CAR; THE SEARCH OF THE CAR AND SEIZURE OF A WEAPON FROM AN OPEN PURSE IN THE BACK SEAT WAS ILLEGAL (FIRST DEPT).
THE INTERSATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN (ICPC) APPLIES ONLY TO PLACEMENT IN FOSTER CARE OR PLACEMENT RELATED TO ADOPTION; THEREFORE THE ICPC DID NOT APPLY HERE WHERE FATHER, A NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENT, SOUGHT CUSTODY OF THE CHILD; NORTH CAROLINA, APPLYING THE ICPC, DID NOT APPROVE PLACEMENT WITH FATHER; THE APPELLATE DIVISION’S DENIAL OF FATHER’S CUSTODY PETITION ON THAT GROUND WAS REVERSED (CT APP).
TRIAL COURT DID NOT ABUSE ITS DISCRETION WHEN IT RELIEVED DEFENSE COUNSEL ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST GROUNDS BECAUSE A POTENTIAL WITNESS HAD BEEN REPRESENTED BY ANOTHER ATTORNEY IN THE SAME LARGE CRIMINAL DEFENDER ORGANIZATION.
ANY BRADY VIOLATIONS WERE NOT “MATERIAL” IN THAT THERE WAS NO REASONABLE POSSIBILITY THE EVIDENCE WOULD HAVE CHANGED THE JURY’S VERDICT, DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (CT APP).

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 © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

NEGLIGENT BRAKING BY TRUCK DRIVER, IN RESPONSE TO A COLLISION WITH A THIRD PARTY,... CPLR 1601 DOES NOT ALLOW DAMAGES TO BE APPORTIONED AGAINST THE NON-PARTY STATE...