You are here: / / DEFENDANT DETOXIFICATION FACILITY NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ACTION...
,

DEFENDANT DETOXIFICATION FACILITY NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ACTION BASED UPON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO WAS TREATED, LEFT AND WAS FOUND DEAD A MONTH LATER, DEFENDANTS POINTED TO GAPS IN PLAINTIFF’S PROOF OF CAUSATION BUT DID NOT AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF CAUSATION (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department determined defendant detoxification facility was not entitled to summary judgment on the negligence and wrongful death causes of action brought on behalf of decedent, DeJesus, who had been treated at the facility, left and was found dead a month later. The defendants pointed to the plaintiff's inability to prove causation as grounds for summary judgment. However, it was the defendants' burden to affirmatively demonstrate the absence of causation, which they did not do. (Another example of the strict analytical criteria used by the appellate courts for review of summary judgment motions.) The court also held the Public Health Law cause of action should have been dismissed because the detoxification facility was not a nursing home and therefore was not subject to the Public Health Law:

Defendants, however, failed to submit affirmative evidence establishing that their alleged negligence did not, as a matter of law, proximately cause DeJesus's death. The fact that DeJesus's body was discovered a month after he disappeared is not sufficient, in itself, to warrant summary judgment in defendants' favor. Although defendants submitted DeJesus's death certificate, that document states only that the manner and cause of death were undetermined, and does not definitively rule out the requisite causal connection. Further, the autopsy report submitted with defendants' motion papers is incomplete, and does not identify the cause of death.

Because defendants merely pointed to perceived gaps in plaintiff's proof, they are not entitled to summary judgment on the negligence and wrongful death claims … . Hairston v Liberty Behavioral Mgt. Corp., 2018 NY Slip Op 00004, First Dept 1-2-18

NEGLIGENCE (DEFENDANT DETOXIFICATION FACILITY NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ACTION BASED UPON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO WAS TREATED, LEFT AND WAS FOUND DEAD A MONTH LATER, DEFENDANTS POINTED TO GAPS IN PLAINTIFF'S PROOF OF CAUSATION BUT DID NOT AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF CAUSATION (FIRST DEPT))/SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DEFENDANT DETOXIFICATION FACILITY NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ACTION BASED UPON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO WAS TREATED, LEFT AND WAS FOUND DEAD A MONTH LATER, DEFENDANTS POINTED TO GAPS IN PLAINTIFF'S PROOF OF CAUSATION BUT DID NOT AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF CAUSATION (FIRST DEPT))/CIVIL PROCEDURE (SUMMARY JUDGMENT, DEFENDANT DETOXIFICATION FACILITY NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ACTION BASED UPON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO WAS TREATED, LEFT AND WAS FOUND DEAD A MONTH LATER, DEFENDANTS POINTED TO GAPS IN PLAINTIFF'S PROOF OF CAUSATION BUT DID NOT AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF CAUSATION (FIRST DEPT)/EVIDENCE (SUMMARY JUDGMENT, DEFENDANT DETOXIFICATION FACILITY NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ACTION BASED UPON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO WAS TREATED, LEFT AND WAS FOUND DEAD A MONTH LATER, DEFENDANTS POINTED TO GAPS IN PLAINTIFF'S PROOF OF CAUSATION BUT DID NOT AFFIRMATIVELY DEMONSTRATE THE ABSENCE OF CAUSATION (FIRST DEPT))/DETOXIFICATION FACILITY (NOT A NURSING HOME, NOT SUBJECT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW (FIRST DEPT))/PUBLIC HEALTH LAW (DETOXIFICATION FACILITY, NOT A NURSING HOME, NOT SUBJECT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW (FIRST DEPT))

You might also like
COURT SHOULD HAVE INQUIRED OF JURORS WHETHER THEIR CONCERNS ABOUT NOT BEING PAID BY THEIR EMPLOYERS DURING JURY DUTY WOULD AFFECT THEIR ABILITY TO RENDER AN IMPARTIAL VERDICT, NEW TRIAL ORDERED (FIRST DEPT).
PLAINTIFF WAS INJURED WHEN A WHEEL ON THE CONTAINER HE WAS PUSHING GOT STUCK IN A GAP IN THE FLOOR AFTER THE PLYWOOD COVERING THE GAP BROKE; PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO AMEND THE COMPLAINT TO ADD THE RELEVANT INDUSTRIAL CODE PROVISION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED; THE LABOR LAW 241(6), LABOR LAW 200 AND NEGLIGENCE CAUSES OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (FIRST DEPT).
CONTINUING WRONG DOCTRINE DID NOT APPLY TO EXTEND THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN THIS BREACH OF CONTRACT ACTION.
ALTHOUGH THE BOOM TRUCK WAS 700 FEET FROM WHERE IT WAS LOADED WHEN THE BOOM STRUCK AN OVERHEAD SIGN, THE TRUCK WAS AT THE WORK SITE WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE LABOR LAW, ALTHOUGH THE INDUSTRIAL CODE PROVISION ADDRESSED THE POSITION OF THE BOOM BUT NOT THE NATURE OF THE ACCIDENT, THE PROVISION WAS BROADLY WORDED AND RAISED A QUESTION OF FACT ON THE LABOR LAW 241 (6) CAUSE OF ACTION 1ST DEPT.
EVEN THOUGH THE US SUPREME COURT CASE REQUIRING WARRANTS FOR CELL SITE LOCATION DATA WAS NOT DECIDED AT THE TIME OF TRIAL, PRESERVATION OF THAT ISSUE FOR APPEAL IS STILL NECESSARY; A DEFENDANT MAY BE INDICTED FOR BOTH DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE AND INTENTIONAL MURDER; CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES FOR THE SHOOTINGS AND POSSESSION OF A WEAPON WERE APPROPRIATE (FIRST DEPT). ​
PLAINTIFFS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THEIR DEFECTIVE DESIGN CAUSE OF ACTION IN THIS PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE (FIRST DEPT).
PLAINTIFFS’ EXPERTS RAISED ISSUES OF FACT REQUIRING DENIAL OF DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION.
THERE WAS A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER THE ONE-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN THE CONTRACT WITH DEFENDANT SUBCONTRACTOR WAS REASONABLE BECAUSE THE RUNNING OF THE STATUTE COULD BE TRIGGERED BY A PARTY OVER WHICH DEFENDANT HAD NO CONTROL (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