Opinion
October 19, 1961
Order entered on December 9, 1960 denying the motion of the attorneys for the defendants for leave to withdraw from their defense of the defendant Maya, and granting the cross motion of the plaintiffs to strike the answer of defendant Maya, and for a severance and an assessment of damages as against said defendant, unanimously modified on the law, the facts and in the exercise of discretion so as to deny a severance and an immediate assessment of damages, and is otherwise affirmed, without costs. If in this case the employer should be found liable, such liability would be derivative. The amounts awarded as damages against each defendant should therefore be the same. A severance at this time might well produce a contrary result and ought not be granted.
Concur — Rabin, J.P., Valente, McNally, Stevens and Steuer, JJ.