Ramirez v. Genovese

• Citation: 117 A.D.3d 930,2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 03673,986 N.Y.S.2d 220
• Parties: Ernesto R. RAMIREZ, respondent-appellant, et al., plaintiff, v. Daniel GENOVESE, defendant, Manhattanville College, respondent, Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated, et al., appellants.
• Decision Date: 21 May 2014
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

117 A.D.3d 930

986 N.Y.S.2d 220

2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 03673

Ernesto R. RAMIREZ, respondent-appellant, et al., plaintiff,

v. Daniel GENOVESE, defendant,Manhattanville College, respondent,Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated, et al., appellants.

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

May 21, 2014.

Marin Goodman, LLP, Harrison, N.Y. (Rodrigo Armand, Jr., of counsel), for appellants.

Jeffrey I. Klein, White Plains, N.Y., respondent-appellant.

Susan B. Owens, New York, N.Y. (Paul L. Neugebauer of counsel), for respondent.

REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, LEONARD B. AUSTIN, and COLLEEN D. DUFFY, JJ.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the defendants Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated, and Damon Jarrett appeal, as limited by their brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Adler, J.), dated May 18, 2012, as denied their motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them and on their cross claim against the defendant Manhattanville College for contractual indemnification, and granted that branch of the motion of the defendant Manhattanville College which was for summary judgment on its cross claim for contractual indemnification against them, and the plaintiff Ernesto R. Ramirez cross-appeals from so much of the same order as granted that branch of the motion of the defendant Manhattanville College which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it.

ORDERED that the order is modified, on the law, (1) by deleting the provision thereof denying that branch of the motion of the defendants Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated, and Damon Jarrett which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them, and substituting therefor a provision granting that branch of the motion, (2) by deleting the provision thereof denying that branch of the motion of the defendants Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated, and Damon Jarrett which was for summary judgment on their cross claims against the defendant Manhattanville College for contractual indemnification, and substituting therefor a provision denying that branch of their motion as academic, and (3) by deleting the provision thereof granting that branch of the motion of the defendant Manhattanville College which was for summary judgment on its cross claim against Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated, and Damon Jarrett for contractual indemnification, and substituting therefor a provision denying that branch of the motion as academic; as so modified, the order is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, with one bill of costs payable by the plaintiff Ernesto R. Ramirez to the defendants Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated, Damon Jarrett, and Manhattanville College, appearing separately and filing separate briefs.

The plaintiff Ernesto R. Ramirez (hereinafter the plaintiff), a taxicab driver, allegedly was injured as a result of an altercation with several students on the campus of Manhattanville College (hereinafter Manhattanville). The altercation allegedly was a result of a dispute over a taxicab fare, in which numerous Manhattanville students who had not been passengers in the plaintiff's taxicab, including the defendant Daniel Genovese, took part. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant Damon Jarrett, a security guard employed by Securitas Security Services USA, Incorporated (hereinafter Securitas), to work on the Manhattanville campus, did nothing to intervene in or stop the altercation when it became physical.

Securitas and Jarrett correctly contend that the court erred in denying that branch of their motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them. Securitas and Jarrett established their prima facie entitlement to judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them. A contractual obligation, standing alone, generally will not give rise to tort liability in favor of a third party ( see Balestrieri v. Washington 585, LLC, 106 A.D.3d 764, 964 N.Y.S.2d 641;492 Kings Realty, LLC v. 506 Kings, LLC, 105 A.D.3d 991, 964 N.Y.S.2d 215;Romano v. Village of Mamaroneck, 100 A.D.3d 854, 954 N.Y.S.2d 593). Before an injured party may recover as a third-party beneficiary for failure to perform a duty imposed by contract, it...