Williams v. Tillak

• Decision Date: 29 June 1998
• Citation: 675 N.Y.S.2d 555,251 A.D.2d 657
• Parties: 1998 N.Y. Slip Op. 6682 Olive WILLIAMS, Respondent, v. Victor TILLAK, et al., Appellants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 555

675 N.Y.S.2d 555

1998 N.Y. Slip Op. 6682

Olive WILLIAMS, Respondent, v. Victor TILLAK, et al., Appellants.

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

June 29, 1998.

Frank V. Merlino (Sweetbaum & Sweetbaum, Lake Success, N.Y. [Marshall D. Sweetbaum] of counsel), for appellants.

Morganstern & Quatela, Garden City, N.Y. (Glenn S. Riegler of counsel), for respondent.

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendants appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Durante, J.), dated January 16, 1998, which denied their motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint based upon the plaintiff's failure to sustain a serious injury as defined by Insurance Law § 5102(d).

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is granted, and the complaint is dismissed.

The plaintiff sought to recover damages by claiming that she suffered a "significant limitation of use of a body function or system" (Insurance Law § 5102[d] ). In order to establish that she suffered such a "significant limitation", the plaintiff was required to provide objective evidence of the extent or degree of the limitation and its duration (see, Beckett v. Conte, 176 A.D.2d 774, 575 N.Y.S.2d 102). The affidavits authored by the plaintiff's treating physician, Dr. Kathleen R. Watson, failed to specify the extent or degree of the plaintiff's alleged limitation.

BRACKEN, J.P., COPERTINO, SANTUCCI, FLORIO and McGINITY, JJ., concur.