From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Bailey v. Jamaica Buses Co., Inc.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 5, 1994
210 A.D.2d 192 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)

Summary

concluding that "undocumented, conclusory" claims of potential earnings were too speculative to support an award for lost earnings

Summary of this case from Carroll v. U.S.

Opinion

December 5, 1994

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Durante, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with costs, the award of $154,000 representing past and future lost earnings is deleted, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for the entry of an amended judgment in the principal sum of $80,000 for the remaining items of damages.

We agree with the defendants that the evidence adduced at the trial concerning the plaintiff's past and future lost earnings was unsubstantiated and conclusory. We have held that claims for such losses "must be ascertainable with a reasonable degree of certainty and may not be based on conjecture" (Long Is. Airports Limousine Serv. Corp. v Northwest Airlines, 124 A.D.2d 711, 713).

Here, the plaintiff's proof consisted of undocumented, conclusory statements with respect to his alleged earnings as a self-employed plumber. The plaintiff's speculative contentions failed to establish damages with the requisite degree of certainty necessary to support an award for lost earnings (see, Brown v Samalin Bock, 168 A.D.2d 531). Mangano, P.J., Thompson, O'Brien and Ritter, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Bailey v. Jamaica Buses Co., Inc.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 5, 1994
210 A.D.2d 192 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)

concluding that "undocumented, conclusory" claims of potential earnings were too speculative to support an award for lost earnings

Summary of this case from Carroll v. U.S.
Case details for

Bailey v. Jamaica Buses Co., Inc.

Case Details

Full title:STANLEY L. BAILEY, Respondent, v. JAMAICA BUSES CO., INC., et al.…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Dec 5, 1994

Citations

210 A.D.2d 192 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)
620 N.Y.S.2d 257

Citing Cases

Carroll v. U.S.

Such an award cannot be based on mere conjecture alone. See Bailey v. Jamaica Buses Co., 210 A.D.2d 192, 192,…

Susan Glaser v. County of

In addition, the plaintiffs evidence did not establish some of the damages for past and future loss of…