Rueda v. Elmhurst Woodside, LLC

• Decision Date: 14 October 2020
• Docket Number: Index No. 25905/08,2017–01983
• Citation: 187 A.D.3d 955,130 N.Y.S.3d 713 (Mem)
• Parties: Luz RUEDA, appellant, v. ELMHURST WOODSIDE, LLC, et al., respondents, et al., defendant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

187 A.D.3d 955

130 N.Y.S.3d 713 (Mem)

Luz RUEDA, appellant,

v.ELMHURST WOODSIDE, LLC, et al., respondents, et al., defendant.

2017–01983

Index No. 25905/08

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

Argued—September 8, 2020

October 14, 2020

Souren A. Israelyan, New York, NY, for appellant.

French & Casey, LLP, New York, NY (Joseph A. French and Sarah A. Trepel of counsel), for respondents.

ALAN D. SCHEINKMAN, P.J., JOHN M. LEVENTHAL, ROBERT J. MILLER, PAUL WOOTEN, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Martin E. Ritholtz, J.), entered December 16, 2016. The judgment, upon a jury verdict on the issue of liability, is in favor of the defendants Elmhurst Woodside, LLC, and First Queens Management dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against those defendants.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.

The plaintiff allegedly was injured when the ceiling at The Make Up Shop, her place of employment, partially collapsed. She commenced this action against, among others, Elmhurst Woodside, LLC, and First Queens Management (hereinafter together the defendants), the owner and the management company of the building where the accident occurred, respectively. The plaintiff moved for a unified trial on the issues of liability and damages, arguing that those issues were inextricably intertwined. The Supreme Court denied the motion. After a trial on the issue of liability, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the defendants, and a judgment was entered accordingly. The plaintiff appeals.

"Judges are encouraged to order a bifurcated trial of the issues of liability and damages in any action for personal injury where it appears that bifurcation may assist in a clarification or simplification of issues and a fair and more expeditious resolution of the action" ( 22 NYCRR 202.42 [a]; see Castro v. Malia Realty, LLC, 177 A.D.3d 58, 66, 109 N.Y.S.3d 314 ; see also CPLR 603, 4011 ). However, "neither the statewide rule nor the governing precedent absolutely requires that the trial of a personal injury action be bifurcated" ( Castro v. Malia Realty, LLC, 177 A.D.3d at 66, 109 N.Y.S.3d 314 ). Rather, as this Court has recently emphasized: "Although bifurcation is encouraged in appropriate settings, bifurcation is not an absolute given and it is the responsibility of the trial judge to exercise discretion in determining whether bifurcation is appropriate in light of all relevant facts and circumstances presented by the individual cases" ( id. ). Accordingly, "[t]he decision whether to conduct a bifurcated trial rests within the discretion of the trial court, and should not be disturbed absent an improvident exercise of discretion" ( Wright v. New York City Tr. Auth., 142 A.D.3d 1163, 1163, 39 N.Y.S.3d 36 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Castro v. Malia Realty, LLC, 177 A.D.3d at 63, 109 N.Y.S.3d 314 ).

Here, the plaintiff failed to demonstrate that evidence regarding the nature and extent of her injuries was probative of the question of liability (see Wright v. New York City Tr. Auth., 142 A.D.3d at 1164, 39 N.Y.S.3d 36 ; Parris v. New York City Tr. Auth., 140 A.D.3d 938, 939, 35 N.Y.S.3d 137 ; Patino v. County of Nassau, 124 A.D.3d 738, 740, 3 N.Y.S.3d 43 ; Fetterman v. Evans, 204 A.D.2d 888, 889–890, 612 N.Y.S.2d 479 ). Under the circumstances, we decline to disturb the Supreme Court's determination to deny the plaintiff's motion for a unified trial.

The plaintiff argues that the Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in refusing to give an interested witness charge with respect to nonparty witness Lucia Sanchez, the owner of The Make Up Shop, and several of Sanchez's nonparty employees. These contentions are without merit. The plaintiff did not present any evidence that Sanchez's employees were involved in the negligence alleged in this action (see Coleman v. New York City Tr. Auth., 37 N.Y.2d 137, 142, 371 N.Y.S.2d 663,...