Coughlin v. BARTNICK JR.
| Decision Date | 08 April 2002 |
| Citation | 293 A.D.2d 509,740 N.Y.S.2d 394 |
| Parties | FRANCIS J. COUGHLIN, Respondent,<BR>v.<BR>RICHARD BARTNICK, JR., Respondent, and<BR>ABDELALIM M. ABDELALIM et al., Appellants. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is granted, the complaint and all cross claims insofar as asserted against the appellants are dismissed, and the action against the remaining defendant is severed.
On January 17, 1997, the defendant Abdelalim M. Abdelalim, a driver employed by the defendant Atlantic Avenue Limousine, was driving in the left lane on Court Street in Brooklyn. Abdelalim stopped the vehicle when he saw the plaintiff's decedent emerge from between two parked cars on his left, crossing Court Street between President and Carroll Streets. Thereafter, a vehicle driven by the defendant Richard Bartnick, Jr. (hereinafter Bartnick), in the right lane on Court Street, struck the decedent. The accident ultimately resulted in her death. The plaintiff commenced this action, alleging that the defendants' negligent operation of the vehicles caused the decedent's injuries and death. The Supreme Court denied the motion of the defendants Abdelalim and Atlantic Avenue Limousine for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims insofar as asserted against them. We reverse.
The appellants demonstrated their entitlement to summary judgment by presenting testimony of Abdelalim at an examination before trial that he stopped his vehicle several feet away from the plaintiff's decedent and that Bartnick's car struck the decedent. The plaintiff failed to "produce evidentiary proof in admissible form sufficient to require a trial of material questions of fact" (Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557, 562 [internal quotation marks omitted]). Issues based on conclusory or irrelevant allegations are insufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment (see Rotuba Extruders v Ceppos, 46 NY2d 223). While a plaintiff in a wrongful death case is held to a lesser standard of proof (see Noseworthy v City of New York, 298 NY 76), "that does not relieve the plaintiff of the obligation to provide some proof from which negligence could reasonably be inferred" (Byrd v New York City Tr. Auth., 228 AD2d 537; see also Johnson v Sniffen, 265 AD2d 304).
Abdelalim's consistent and uncontradicted testimony at the examination before trial was that the accident occurred when the automobile driven by...
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Correa v. Ditrapani, 2007 NY Slip Op 32898(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 8/21/2007)
...irrelevant allegations will suffice to defeat summary judgment." Rotuba Extruders v. Ceppos, supra, 46 N.Y.2d at 231; Coughlin v. Bartnick, 293 A.D.2d 509 (2d Dept. 2002). If the proponent succeeds, the burden shifts to the party opposing the motion, who then must show the existence of mate......
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Antonaros v. Cumberland Farms, Inc., 2008 NY Slip Op 31818(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 6/2/2008)
...irrelevant allegations will suffice to defeat summary judgment." Rotuba Extruders v. Ceppos, supra, 46 N.Y.2d at 231; Coughlin v. Bartnick, 293 A.D.2d 509 (2d Dept. 2002). Inherent in the court's consideration of a motion for summary judgment is the requisite determination that there are no......
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Finn v. Doran, 2009 NY Slip Op 32182(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 9/17/2009)
...irrelevant allegations Will suffice to defeat summary judgment." Rotuba Extruders v. Ceppos, supra, 46 N.Y.2d at 231; Coughlin v. Bartnick, 293 A.D.2d 509 (2nd Dept. 2002). If the proponent succeeds, the burden shifts to the party opposing the motion, who then must show the existence of mat......
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Rameau v. Russo, 2009 NY Slip Op 31000(U) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 4/27/2009), 24133/07.
...irrelevant allegations will suffice to defeat summary judgment." Rotuba Extruders v. Ceppos, supra, 46 N.Y.2d at 231; Coughlin v. Bartnick, 293 A.D.2d 509 (2nd Dept. 2002). If the proponent succeeds, the burden shifts to the party opposing the motion, who then must show the existence of mat......