Moe-Salley v. Highbridge House Ogden, LLC

• Citation: 214 A.D.3d 722,185 N.Y.S.3d 230
• Docket Number: 2020–04126,Index No. 68470/18
• Decision Date: 08 March 2023
• Parties: Violet MOE–SALLEY, appellant, v. HIGHBRIDGE HOUSE OGDEN, LLC, respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

214 A.D.3d 722
185 N.Y.S.3d 230

Violet MOE–SALLEY, appellant,
v.
HIGHBRIDGE HOUSE OGDEN, LLC, respondent.

2020–04126
Index No. 68470/18

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Argued—December 13, 2022
March 8, 2023

Mirman Markovits & Landau, P.C., New York, NY (David Weissman of counsel), for appellant.

Perry, Van Etten, Rozanski & Kutner, LLP, New York, NY (Kenneth J. Kutner of counsel), for respondent.

FRANCESCA E. CONNOLLY, J.P., PAUL WOOTEN, JOSEPH A. ZAYAS, BARRY E. WARHIT, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

214 A.D.3d 722

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (William J. Giacomo, J.), dated May 12, 2020. The order granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, and the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint is denied.

185 N.Y.S.3d 231

The plaintiff, who lived in an apartment in a building owned by the defendant, commenced this action to recover damages she allegedly sustained when she fell while getting out of the shower. The plaintiff testified at her deposition that her knee buckled as she stepped out of the shower, causing her to lose her balance, that she grabbed a vanity to regain her balance, and that the vanity shifted away from the wall, causing her to fall. The defendant moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, and in an order dated May 12, 2020, the Supreme Court granted the defendant's motion. The plaintiff appeals.

" ‘A defendant moving for summary judgment in a negligence action has the burden of establishing, prima facie, that [it] was not at fault in the happening of the subject accident’ " ( Fiorentino v. Uncle Giuseppe's of Port Wash., Inc., 208 A.D.3d 757, 757–758, 172 N.Y.S.3d 623, quoting Boulos v. Lerner–Harrington, 124 A.D.3d 709, 709, 2 N.Y.S.3d 526 ). "There can be more than one proximate cause of an accident, and a...