Opinion
1277 Index No. 153022/15 Case No. 2022–04275
12-19-2023
Denise LANE, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Defendants–Respondents.
Michael H. Zhu, P.C., New York (Michael H. Zhu of counsel), for appellant. Sylvia O. Hinds–Radix, Corporation Counsel, New York (Jamison Davies of counsel), for respondents.
Michael H. Zhu, P.C., New York (Michael H. Zhu of counsel), for appellant.
Sylvia O. Hinds–Radix, Corporation Counsel, New York (Jamison Davies of counsel), for respondents.
Singh, J.P., Friedman, Gesmer, Shulman, O'Neill Levy, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (J. Machelle Sweeting, J.), entered September 13, 2022, which denied plaintiff's motion to vacate so much of a prior order, same court and Justice, entered July 6, 2022, denying plaintiff's request that defendants provide the date of birth and social security number of a nonparty witness, unanimously modified, on the law and the facts, to the extent of ordering disclosure of the nonparty witness's birth date, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.
A plaintiff is entitled to "open and far-reaching pretrial discovery" ( DiMichel v. South Buffalo Ry. Co., 80 N.Y.2d 184, 193, 590 N.Y.S.2d 1, 604 N.E.2d 63 (1992), cert. denied 510 U.S. 816, 114 S.Ct. 68, 126 L.Ed.2d 37 [1993] ; see also CPLR 3101[a] ), although such discovery requests are "evaluated on a case-by-case basis" ( Forman v. Henkin, 30 N.Y.3d 656, 662, 70 N.Y.S.3d 157, 93 N.E.3d 882 [2018] [internal quotation marks omitted]).
Supreme Court should have granted plaintiff's request that defendants provide the date of birth of the nonparty witness. "[O]rdinarily the names and addresses of witnesses are a proper subject of disclosure" ( Parkmed Co. v. Pro–Life Counselling, Inc., 88 A.D.2d 534, 535, 450 N.Y.S.2d 23 [1st Dept. 1982], citing Hoffman v. Ro–San Manor, 73 A.D.2d 207, 211, 425 N.Y.S.2d 619 [1st Dept. 1980] [granting motion to provide names and addresses of witness]). The identity of an active participant in an incident is discoverable because " ‘the witness was so closely related to the [incident] that his testimony [became] essential in establishing [its] happening’ " ( Hoffman, 73 A.D.2d at 209, 425 N.Y.S.2d 619, quoting O'Dea v. City of Albany, 27 A.D.2d 11, 12–13, 275 N.Y.S.2d 687 [3d Dept. 1966] ).
Plaintiff seeks disclosure of the date of birth and social security number of the nonparty witness, who was also plaintiff's assailant in the incident underlying the litigation. Defendants have already disclosed that plaintiff's assailant, who has a remarkably common name, was homeless. Accordingly, the ordinary disclosure of "names and addresses" is unlikely to assist plaintiff in locating the witness. Disclosure of his date of birth may assist plaintiff in identifying and locating the witness. Defendants are not required to provide the witness's social security number, however, as courts have recognized a heightened level of confidentiality with respect to an individual's social security number.
We have considered the parties’ remaining arguments and find them unavailing.