NO MAKING THIS DEFENDANT A FALL-GUY
In this personal injury case, ED sued PJ for monetary damages arising from the injuries she sustained after tripping and falling on the back deck of PJ’s home. While her papers alleged that a "step/unlevel surface" caused her to lose balance, during her deposition [i.e., questioning under oath], she later admitted that she did not know what triggered the accident.
After the defendant moved for pretrial relief in his favor – via motion for summary judgment – and asked the court to dismiss the case because the plaintiff couldn’t definitively identify the cause of her fall without speculating, the Dutchess County Supreme Court sided with the defendant and threw the case out.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department, agreed that ED’s inability to pinpoint the incident's cause merited the litigation’s dismissal.
Now that was certainly some misstep.
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DECISION