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Koppelmann v. Lepler

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 7, 1987
135 A.D.2d 507 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Opinion

December 7, 1987

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Robbins, J.).


Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.

We find that the evidence submitted by the plaintiffs was insufficient to defeat the defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

Although the plaintiffs, on appeal, contend that a scar sustained by the infant plaintiff as a result of the accident constituted a "significant disfigurement" within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102 (d), the unrefuted evidence contained in the record reveals that the scar, which is located near the infant's left eye, measured approximately one eighth of an inch and was barely visible, even upon close inspection by the defendants' examining physician. The record additionally indicates that no sutures had been used to repair this laceration when the infant plaintiff was initially brought to the hospital.

The plaintiffs also referred in their motion papers to a scar located on the infant plaintiff's scalp. Photographs submitted by the plaintiffs in opposition to the defendants' motion, however, attest to the fact that this scar is obscured by the infant plaintiff's hair.

Under the circumstances, we conclude that any "disfigurement" sustained by the infant plaintiff was not "significant" within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102 (d) and that the plaintiffs, therefore, failed to raise a triable issue of fact regarding the question of "serious injury" so as to warrant the submission of this case to the jury (see, Post v Broderick, 104 A.D.2d 977; Caruso v Hall, 101 A.D.2d 967, affd 64 N.Y.2d 843). Mangano, J.P., Bracken, Eiber and Kunzeman, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Koppelmann v. Lepler

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 7, 1987
135 A.D.2d 507 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)
Case details for

Koppelmann v. Lepler

Case Details

Full title:CHARLES KOPPELMANN, an Infant, by His Mother, LINDA KOPPELMANN et al.…

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

Date published: Dec 7, 1987

Citations

135 A.D.2d 507 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

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