Gotlin v. City of New York

26 Misc. 3d 514
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 30, 2009
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 26 Misc. 3d 514 (Gotlin v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gotlin v. City of New York, 26 Misc. 3d 514 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Robert J. Miller, J.

Motion by plaintiff Gary D. Gotlin, Richmond County Public Administrator, as administrator of the estate of Hailey Gonzalez, deceased, for an order granting leave to serve interrogatories pursuant to CPLR 3130 (1); motion by defendants City of New York, New York City Administration for Children’s Services, Maria Cruz, David Stephens, Steve Marcus, James Palma, Belkys Marquez, Esther Rodriguez, Shatonya Capers, sued herein as Shatoya Higgins, Chioma Kagha, Jontarr Johnson, Gennell McCord, Andrew Blake, Josee Carcon, Judy Enwright, and Estelle McIntosh for an order dismissing the complaint pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7); and cross motion by said defendants for an order, among other things, precluding plaintiff [516]*516from taking any depositions are consolidated for disposition herein and, upon consolidation:

1. the motion by defendants is granted only to the extent of dismissing plaintiffs third cause of action based upon 42 USC § 1983, and

2. the motion by plaintiff and the cross motion by defendants are granted only to the extent of permitting plaintiffs to serve the proposed interrogatories numbered 1, 2 and 6 and to thereafter conduct depositions.

This action arises out of the wrongful death of Hailey Gonzalez, an infant, in August 2007 while under the supervision of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). It is alleged by plaintiff that Hailey Gonzalez was killed by Edwin Garcia, the companion of her mother, and that ACS, which was charged under a Brooklyn Family Court order with supervising the child’s home, “had a mountain of evidence confirming that Hailey’s mother repeatedly placed herself and her children in extremely dangerous domestic violence situations.” The individual defendants are either caseworkers or supervisors employed by ACS and it is alleged that they “played a substantial role in the events that led to Hailey’s death” and were “grossly negligent.”

In his motion, plaintiff points out that, on February 25, 2009, he served defendants with a first notice of discovery and inspection (the first notice), which contained various interrogatories. On May 28, 2009, defendants served a response to the first notice; however, with respect to the interrogatories, defendants asserted that Hailey Gonzalez’s case records “contain the information sought” by each interrogatory and that such information would only be provided upon execution of a confidentiality agreement. Before an agreement could be executed, plaintiff withdrew the interrogatories contained in the first notice. In their place, plaintiff proposes to serve a second notice of discovery and inspection as set forth in exhibit C of his motion.1 Although plaintiff acknowledges that CPLR 3130 (1) provides that a party in a negligence action shall not be permitted to serve interrogatories and conduct a deposition of the same party, [517]*517he argues that the statute is inapplicable because a claim based upon a violation of 42 USC § 1983 has been asserted and, therefore, he should be permitted to conduct depositions herein.2 Plaintiff points out that interrogatories “only seek the identities of witnesses” so as to narrow down the list of people to be deposed.

In their motion, defendants contend that, since the infant was killed by a private actor and she was not in their custody, the complaint fails to state a claim based upon a violation of her constitutional rights. With respect to the adequacy of their court-ordered monitoring of the infant’s household, defendants argue that they are entitled to absolute immunity for any claim premised upon the quality of their investigation and supervision. Although ACS monitored the family pursuant to its obligations under the Social Services Law, defendants assert that its obligations did not create a special relationship with respect to the infant so as to constitute a predicate for liability.

In opposition to the cross motion, plaintiff maintains that a “special relationship” did exist since defendants’ duty arose from a supervision order issued by the Family Court, which order “triggered a number of specific, mandatory duties under applicable state regulations.” Plaintiff also asserts that there was a “voluntary assumption of duty” by defendants because the Family Court ordered ACS to supervise Hailey Gonzalez’s home, ACS knew Hailey Gonzalez’s mother was prone to domestic violence situations, there was direct contact between ACS and the infant, and the infant, through the Family Court and her law guardian, relied upon defendants’ affirmative undertaking of their duty to care for her. Under the circumstances, plaintiff contends that the complaint states viable claims for negligent supervision and wrongful death. Plaintiff further asserts that defendants are not entitled to judicial immunity because, in this case, ACS’ obligations were not “an integral part of the judicial process,” but were an exercise of its statutory prerogative, “an end in itself: protecting the child from harm.” With respect to his claim for violation of the Due Process Clause of the Federal Constitution, plaintiff concedes that, in view of DeShaney v Winnebago County Dept. of Social Servs. (489 US 189 [1989]), “it is unrealistic to expect this Court to recognize a federal right in this case based on that precedent.”

[518]*518In their cross motion, defendants note plaintiffs concession that his constitutional claim is not viable and they point out that plaintiff previously served interrogatories. Therefore, they argue that, pursuant to CPLR 3130 (1), plaintiff may not now seek depositions or serve further interrogatories since his remaining claims (assuming the complaint is not dismissed in its entirety) sound in negligence. In their reply papers (with respect to the motion for dismissal), defendants contend that a Family Court order of supervision does not create a special duty since the applicable statutes do not create a private right of action. Although ACS may have agreed to carry out court-ordered supervision, defendants maintain that ACS’ assumption of an affirmative duty to act did not establish a special duty since ACS was simply doing what it was required to do under the Social Services Law and its applicable regulations. Moreover, defendants submits that ACS’ supervision was “a judicially delegated function and an integral part of the judicial process,” given the Family Court’s directive to supervise the family and to report on the case at court conferences.

In a reply affirmation in further support of his motion for leave to serve interrogatories, plaintiff states that he has offered a “compelling reason” why this court should exercise its discretion to permit the “modest relief sought” in his motion; that is, by identifying people with relevant knowledge, the information will “streamline” the discovery process. Insofar as defendants suggest that plaintiff has waived his right to conduct depositions by serving his first notice, he contends that defendants’ responses “speak for themselves” since defendants have not answered any of the initial interrogatories.

“It is well settled that on a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a cause of action pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (7), the pleading is to be liberally construed, accepting all the facts alleged in the complaint to be true and according the plaintiff the benefit of every possible favorable inference” (Jacobs v Macy’s E., 262 AD2d 607, 608 [1999]).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 Misc. 3d 514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gotlin-v-city-of-new-york-nysupct-2009.