Chiumento v. State

5 Misc. 3d 918, 784 N.Y.S.2d 324
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedAugust 9, 2004
DocketClaim No. 105270
StatusPublished

This text of 5 Misc. 3d 918 (Chiumento v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chiumento v. State, 5 Misc. 3d 918, 784 N.Y.S.2d 324 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Diane L. Fitzpatrick, J.

Defendant brings a motion for summary judgment. Claimants have not responded to the motion. This motion was adjourned to March 3, 2004 after an order was granted relieving claimants’ prior attorneys, Melvin & Melvin, PLLC, of further representation of claimants. By that order, the court gave claimants 45 days to obtain new counsel and until March 3, 2004 to submit a response to defendant’s summary judgment motion. No other attorney has notified the court or filed a notice of appearance on behalf of claimants, and no opposition to the motion has been received.

In support of the motion, defendant has submitted, inter aha, the verified claim and answer, the verified bill of particulars, a portion of claimants’ deposition testimonies, and a portion of the deposition testimonies of Jim and Dawn Arkerson, an affidavit from Peter Cappuccilli, Jr., Director of the New York State Fair, and an affidavit from Richard Guanciale, Business Manager for the New York State Fair.

Relevant Facts

On September 2, 2001, claimants were attending the New York State Fair. At approximately 1:00 p.m., while walking through the Center of Progress Building looking at the various exhibits, claimant, Richard Chiumento, stopped at a booth where air purification systems were being sold. Claimant, Sheila Chiumento, kept walking, looking at another exhibit. After some time passed, she walked back to the booth where her husband was talking with a woman, now known as Dawn Arkerson. Al[920]*920though not really listening to their conversation, Sheila Chiumento noticed that the woman had a rag in her hand. The vendor, Ms. Arkerson, then placed the rag under the claimants’ noses, first Mr. Chiumento then Mrs. Chiumento. The rag was placed approximately two or three inches from Mrs. Chiumento’s nose and had a strong ammonia smell. Dawn Arkerson testified, during her deposition, that it is her usual practice to inform people that she is spraying ammonia on the paper towel, and that she does not hold it under people’s noses unless they want a closer smell. After Mrs. Chiumento smelled the rag, she backed away and started coughing. Claimants then proceeded to leave the building through the door next to a snack bar.

Mrs. Chiumento, who suffers from asthma, was having trouble breathing and the fresh air did not provide any relief. She used her inhalers, which she carried with her, but they did not help. Her difficult breathing continued to get worse as she and her husband walked around the fairgrounds, so they stopped at an information booth for directions to the Rural Metro Infirmary.2 When they arrived at the infirmary, they were greeted by an emergency medical technician employed by an ambulance service, Eastern Paramedics, Inc., doing business as Rural/Metro Medical Services. Mrs. Chiumento told the technician that she had been exposed to a chemical in one of the buildings, and that she suffered from asthma but responded well to Solu-Medrol. After listening to her lungs and taking her vital signs, two nebulizer treatments were tried but she was still having trouble breathing. Mrs. Chiumento told the doctor, Timothy Page, M.D., that she responded well to Solu-Medrol but he ordered cough medicine. Mrs. Chiumento then told her husband that she needed to go to the hospital. The medical personnel then gave Mrs. Chiumento some breathing treatments. The doctor then listened to her lungs for the third time, and arranged for the ambulance to take her to Crouse-Irving Memorial Hospital. At the hospital, Mrs. Chiumento was given a treatment of Solu-Medrol, but it did not help her at all. A pressure mask was then placed over her face to force oxygen into her lungs. She was in intensive care for three days.

The affidavits from Peter Cappuccilli, Jr., Director of the New York State Fair, and Richard Guanciale, Business Manager for the New York State Fair, establish that the State entered into a license agreement with Pollution Solutions, licensees Jim and [921]*921Dawn Arkerson, for the rental of a 10 foot by 9 foot space in the Center of Progress Building on the New York State Fairgrounds for the sale of air/water purification systems. No real or personal property interest was transferred as part of the agreement. The defendant rented the right to occupy a certain area for the duration of the 2001 New York State Fair to the Arkersons on the condition that the licensee not use the premises for any “unlawful or illegal purpose, or for any purpose in violation of any federal, state or municipal law, ordinance, government rule, order or regulation and shall comply with all rules of the licensor.” The licensee, pursuant to the license agreement, was “responsible for all damage, loss and injury to persons and property due to the activities of the licensee, licensee’s agents and employees” (license agreement, exhibit E, para 4). The Arkersons provided a copy of their tax identification number, certificate of authority, and a copy of a certificate of insurance to the State.

The State Fair also contracted with Timothy Page, M.D., to perform duties as a doctor during the 2001 New York State Fair, and with Eastern Paramedics, Inc., doing business as Rural/ Metro Medical Services, to provide infirmary and ambulance services (copies of the contracts are attached to the motion as part of exhibit E).

The claim asserts that the State was negligent in treating claimant,3 Sheila Chiumento, for exposure to chemical agents. Claimants’ verified bill of particulars, in addition to asserting that the medical staff at the State Fair failed to provide appropriate treatment to Mrs. Chiumento for more than three hours, also states that the State allowed “leasees [sic] to rent space and approach the public in the Center of Progress Building without insuring their marketing approach would not present a danger to someone such as Plaintiff [sic], Sheila Chiumento, who had multiple allergies” (exhibit D, verified bill of particulars, item 3 at 2).

Defendant argues, in support of summary judgment, that the State did not owe a duty to claimant to protect her from the marketing of a licensee at the New York State Fair. The State had no notice that Jim and Dawn Arkerson were engaging in any dangerous behavior, and had no control over their actions or the marketing of their products. Defendant next argues that the State is not liable for an independent contractor’s negli[922]*922gence; where, as here, there is no duty to perform or control the work, there is no assumption of a duty, and there is no special inherent danger in the work to be performed.

Defendant, as the party seeking summary judgment, has the burden to come forward with proof, in admissible form, to make out a prima facie case showing its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law (Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557, 562 [1980]). “Failure to make such showing requires denial of the motion, regardless of the sufficiency of the opposing papers” (Winegrad v New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 NY2d 851, 853 [1985]). Here, defendant has set forth sufficient proof, in admissible form, to establish it breached no duty owed to claimants as a matter of law.

Liability to Third Parties for Conduct of Arkersons

Claimants’ allegations regarding Mrs. Chiumento’s exposure to a chemical which caused her injuries arise solely out of the State’s alleged duty to protect them from the method of marketing the air/water purification system employed by the Arkersons.

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Bluebook (online)
5 Misc. 3d 918, 784 N.Y.S.2d 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chiumento-v-state-nyclaimsct-2004.