New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Turnerson's Electric, Inc.
| Citation | 280 A.D.2d 652,721 N.Y.S.2d 92 |
| Parties | NEW YORK CENTRAL MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, as Subrogee of MARY H. MAXWELL, Appellant,<BR>v.<BR>TURNERSON'S ELECTRIC, INC., et al., Respondents. |
| Decision Date | 26 February 2001 |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with one bill of costs payable to the respondents appearing separately and filing separate briefs.
On January 22, 1992, a house owned by the plaintiff's insured was destroyed by fire. The house was so extensively damaged that the Putnam County Bureau of Fire was unable to determine the cause of the fire. Shortly after the fire, the plaintiff hired a private investigator to conduct an investigation. The investigator, who had no formal education beyond high school and limited training in the area of fire analysis, issued two reports concluding that the fire was electrical in nature. During the course of his inquiry, the investigator removed an electric circuit panel box from the scene of the fire in order to further examine it. However, acting on instructions from a claims adjuster employed by the plaintiff, the investigator later destroyed the circuit panel. Based upon the investigator's opinion that the fire was electrical in origin, the plaintiff thereafter commenced this action against the defendants, contending, inter alia, that they had negligently performed electrical work in the residence. After conducting discovery, the defendants separately moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them on the ground of spoliation of evidence, or on the alternative ground that there was no evidence that their acts or omissions were a proximate cause of the fire. The Supreme Court dismissed the complaint because of the plaintiff's intentional destruction of the circuit panel, and did not reach the defendants' alternative ground for summary judgment.
Contrary to the plaintiff's contention, the Supreme Court properly concluded that the defendants were entitled to summary judgment dismissing the complaint on the ground of spoliation of evidence. Where, as here, a party destroys key physical evidence "such that its opponents are `prejudicially bereft of appropriate means to confront a claim with incisive evidence,'" the spoliator may be punished by the striking of its pleading (DiDomenico v C & S Aeromatik Supplies, 252 AD2d 41, 53, quoting Kirkland v New York City Hous. Auth., 236 AD2d 170, 174). The sanction of...
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...aware of its importance, and striking of answer was warranted. New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Co v. Turnerson’s Electric Inc. , 280 A.D.2d 652, 721 N.Y.S.2d 92 (2d Dept. 2001). After a ire destroyed plaintif ’s house, plaintif hired an investigator to determine the cause. he investi......
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