NYC TRANSIT AUTHORITY WRONGFULLY REFUSED TO SHARE STAIRWAY’S REPAIR RECORDS
After an infant was injured when he fell down a flight of stairs while on the New York City Transit Authority’s property, his father filed suit seeking damages on his son's behalf.
When they later asked NYCTA to provide repair records related to the stairway, together with the names of all employees and contractors who had performed work there, for the two-year period preceding the accident and a year thereafter, NYCTA refused to cooperate. And when the plaintiffs sought to compel the production of that information, the Queens County Supreme Court sided with them and directed that the information be supplied.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department, noted that while a party is usually entitled to the production of information within the context of discovery, it must be shown to be “material and necessary.” Because the information sought met that standard and given that NYCTA couldn’t show why it wasn’t obligated to comply, the AD2 affirmed that part of the order which directed the production of repair related information for the two years preceding the accident’s date.
As for the data relating to the year after the incident, the AD2 thought that part of the request was impermissible, as any evidence of subsequent repair work isn’t discoverable or admissible in a negligence case.
Do you think they discovered anything new there?
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DECISION