Opinion
No. 2013–1606 S C.
2014-10-1
Sandra Jo LANE, Appellant, v. Lori KEMPF, Respondent.
Present: IANNACCI, J.P., MARANO and GARGUILO, JJ.
Appeal, on the ground of inadequacy, from a judgment of the District Court of Suffolk County, Fourth District (C. Stephen Hackeling, J.), entered July 9, 2012. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $720.
ORDERED that the judgment is modified by increasing the award in favor of plaintiff to the principal sum of $3,100; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed, without costs.
In this small claims action to recover the principal sum of $4,105 for therapeutic services provided by plaintiff to defendant, plaintiff appeals on the ground of inadequacy from a judgment of the District Court, which, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $720.
Upon a review of the record, we conclude that substantial justice ( see UDCA 1804, 1807) requires that the award to plaintiff be increased. The evidence adduced at trial established that, from September 3, 2010 to November 1, 2010, plaintiff had provided 18 therapy sessions to defendant; that defendant's insurance company had paid defendant a total of $3,100 therefor; and that defendant had failed to pay plaintiff for these services. In view of the fact that, on appeal, plaintiff seeks to recover the total sum of $3,100, representing the amount defendant was paid by her insurance company, and given the fact that the District Court awarded plaintiff the principal sum of only $720, plaintiff is entitled to recover an additional $2,380.
Accordingly, the judgment is modified by increasing the award in favor of plaintiff to the principal sum of $3,100.