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Zayas v. Half Hollow Hills Central Sch. Dist

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 29, 1996
226 A.D.2d 713 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)

Opinion

April 29, 1996

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (D'Emilio, J.).


Ordered that the order is modified by deleting the provision thereof which granted the cross motion of the defendant Half Hollow Hills Central School District for summary judgment dismissing the complaint in Action No. 1, and substituting therefor a provision denying the cross motion; as so modified, the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.

The plaintiff William Zayas was injured when he allegedly fell on a concealed hole or drain while running after a fly ball in the outfield behind Half Hollow Junior High School. The plaintiffs commenced Action No. 1 against the Half Hollow Hills Central School District (hereinafter Half Hollow Hills) and Action No. 2 against Estee Lauder Company (hereinafter Estee Lauder), the sponsor of the baseball team for which William Zayas was playing at the time he was injured. In addition Half Hollow Hills commenced a third-party action against Estee Lauder. The Supreme Court granted summary judgment to Half Hollow Hills and Estee Lauder.

The proponent of a summary judgment motion "must make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, tendering sufficient evidence to demonstrate the absence of any material issues of fact" ( Alvarez v. Prospect Hosp., 68 N.Y.2d 320, 324). Once the movant has demonstrated a prima facie showing of entitlement of judgment, the burden shifts to the party opposing the motion to produce evidentiary proof in admissible form sufficient to establish the existence of material issues of fact which requires a trial of the action ( see, Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557, 562; Alvarez v Prospect Hosp., supra, at 324).

Here, in response to the cross motion of Half Hollow Hills, the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to raise a triable issue of fact as to preclude the granting of summary judgment, e.g., the exact location of the accident and whether the risk was concealed. Accordingly, the cross motion of Half Hollow Hills for summary judgment should have been denied.

The plaintiffs failed to raise any issue on appeal concerning the Supreme Court's determination that Estee Lauder owed no duty of care to William Zayas. Mangano, P.J., Ritter, Hart and McGinity, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Zayas v. Half Hollow Hills Central Sch. Dist

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 29, 1996
226 A.D.2d 713 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)
Case details for

Zayas v. Half Hollow Hills Central Sch. Dist

Case Details

Full title:WILLIAM ZAYAS et al., Appellants, v. HALF HOLLOW HILLS CENTRAL SCHOOL…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Apr 29, 1996

Citations

226 A.D.2d 713 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)
641 N.Y.S.2d 701

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