Opinion
10095 Index 160496/15
04-23-2020
Foulke Law Firm, Goshen (Evan M. Foulke of counsel), for appellants-respondents. Goldberg Segalla LLP, White Plains (William T. O'Connell of counsel), for respondents-appellants.
Foulke Law Firm, Goshen (Evan M. Foulke of counsel), for appellants-respondents.
Goldberg Segalla LLP, White Plains (William T. O'Connell of counsel), for respondents-appellants.
Friedman, J.P., Renwick, Kapnick, Gesmer, Kern, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol R. Edmead, J.), entered on or about June 19, 2018, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted those branches of defendants' motion which were for summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs' common-law negligence and Labor Law § 200 causes of action, but denied that branch of defendants' motion which was for summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs' Labor Law § 241(6) cause of action, unanimously modified, on the law, to deny defendants' motion in its entirety as premature, without costs, and as so modified, affirmed. According to the record, at the time defendants filed their motion, no depositions had taken place. The record does not show that the parties have exchanged any paper discovery, such as records concerning the installation, maintenance, or repair of the mesh walkway on which plaintiff Richard Lyons fell.
Accordingly, plaintiffs met their burden of demonstrating that facts essential to justify opposition to the motion may lie within defendants' exclusive knowledge or control (see CPLR 3212[f] ), and defendants' motion should have been denied in its entirety as premature, with leave to renew upon the completion of discovery (see Marabyan v. 511 W. 179 Realty Corp. , 165 A.D.3d 581, 582, 84 N.Y.S.3d 780 [1st Dept. 2018] ; Figueroa v. City of New York , 126 A.D.3d 438, 439, 5 N.Y.S.3d 62 [1st Dept. 2015] ; Brooks v. Somerset Surgical Assoc. , 106 A.D.3d 624, 624–626, 966 N.Y.S.2d 65 [1st Dept. 2013] ).
The parties' remaining contentions are academic in light of our determination.
The Decision and Order of this Court entered herein on October 17, 2019 is hereby recalled and vacated (see M–8682–8683 decided simultaneously herewith).