Opinion
December 28, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Morrison, J.).
Ordered that the appeal from the order is dismissed; and it is further,
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, and it is further,
Ordered that the plaintiff is awarded one bill of costs.
The appeal from the intermediate order must be dismissed because the right of direct appeal therefrom terminated with the entry of judgment in the action (see, Matter of Aho, 39 N.Y.2d 241, 248). The issues raised on appeal from the order are brought up for review and have been considered on the appeal from the judgment (see, CPLR 5501 [a] [1]).
It is within the discretion of the Supreme Court to award sanctions when a party intentionally prolongs or delays the resolution of a matter (see, 22 NYCRR 130-1.1). We agree with the Supreme Court that the defendant's conduct of asserting defenses to a no-fault claim that had already been fully litigated in arbitration served merely to delay payment of the arbitration award. There is no merit to the defendant's contention that it was merely inadvertence that caused the delay. While it may be true that the award was not initially paid due to an oversight of a claims examiner, that does not explain the defendant's continued failure to pay the award after the plaintiff made two applications to confirm the award and commenced the instant action (see, Matter of Minister, Elders Deacons of Refm. Prot. Dutch Church v 198 Broadway, 76 N.Y.2d 411). Sullivan, J.P., Balletta, Eiber and Santucci, JJ., concur.