O'Sullivan v. State

83 Misc. 2d 426, 371 N.Y.S.2d 766, 1975 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2920
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedJuly 14, 1975
DocketClaim No. 53706; Claim No. 53783; Claim No. 59044
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 83 Misc. 2d 426 (O'Sullivan 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
O'Sullivan v. State, 83 Misc. 2d 426, 371 N.Y.S.2d 766, 1975 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2920 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1975).

Opinion

Vincent A. De Iorio, J.

On March 18, 1971, the claimant, [428]*428Linda La Buda (now Linda La Buda O’Sullivan and wife of the claimant, James O’Sullivan) was operating her motor vehicle on Route 213 in the Village of Rosendale, New York, when she lost control of said vehicle as it slid on the roadway and struck a stone wall. Both Linda and James O’Sullivan, a passenger in the vehicle at the time, sustained personal injuries as a result of the accident.

On April 16, 1971, a claim on behalf of James O’Sullivan was filed with the clerk of this court. This claim, numbered 53706, in summary, recites that said claimant suffered personal injuries as a result of the negligence of the State of New York, that such negligence caused the accident on March 18, 1971 and that the claimant has suffered damages as a result in the amount of $206,000.

On May 4, 1971, a claim on behalf of Linda La Buda was filed with the clerk of this court. This claim, numbered 53783, recites similar allegations as against the State of New York and seeks damages in the amount of $104,000.

Also, at some time during 1971, a suit was instituted in Supreme Court by claimant, James O’Sullivan (as plaintiff) against claimant, Linda La Buda (as defendant) seeking damages for the personal injuries received as a result of the March 18, 1971 accident alleging that such injuries were caused by reason of the negligence of Linda La Buda. This suit was tried to a conclusion before a jury in Supreme Court, County of Ulster, and the jury returned a verdict of $40,000 in favor of James O’Sullivan and against Linda La Buda on January 11, 1973. A motion to set aside the verdict was denied by Judge Cobb, on March 14, 1973, and judgment was entered against Linda La Buda in the office of the Clerk of Ulster County on March 26, 1973.

On June 25, 1973, a notice of intention to file claim was filed with the clerk of this court on behalf of Linda La Buda, now Linda La Buda O’Sullivan, seeking indemnity or apportionment from the State of New York pursuant to Dole v Dow Chem. Co. (30 NY2d 143), and claiming that the Supreme Court judgment against Linda La Buda was satisfied on June 5, 1973. This claim, now numbered 59044, was filed with the clerk of this court on January 17, 1975.

Numerous issues have been presented by the motions of the various parties herein, and these issues are now discussed separately by the court in order that its final determinations herein as to the several applications may be clear.

[429]*429CLAIM NO. 59044, MOTION NO. M-17101: MOTION TO DISMISS —FAILURE TIMELY TO FILE — ACCRUAL OF CLAIM FOR INDEMNIFICATION OR APPORTIONMENT

The court now proceeds to a consideration of the issues involving indemnification or apportionment under the Court of Appeals decision in Dole v Dow Chem. Co. (30 NY2d 143, supra, hereinafter referred to as Dole).

The claimant, Linda La Buda, now Linda O’Sullivan, having been found liable to James O’Sullivan as a result of her operation of her vehicle on March 18, 1971 and having satisfied that judgment, filed a claim against the State for indemnification or apportionment, alleging that the State was a joint tort-feasor.

The notice of intention to file claim was filed with the clerk of this court on June 25, 1973, some two years after the date of the accident; two years + after the suit in Supreme Court against her by James O’Sullivan was instituted; more than five months after the jury verdict found her liable; 102 days after the Trial Judge (Cobb, J.) denied her motion to set aside the verdict; on the 90th day after that judgment was entered in the county clerk’s oflice and only a few days after the judgment was satisfied of record.

The instant motion by the State raises two critical issues:

(1) For jurisdictional purposes, is a claim for apportionment against the State, a claim based upon tort and thereby governed by subdivision 3 of section 10 of the Court of Claims Act, or one based on contract, express or implied, or any other claim not otherwise provided for and thereby governed by subdivision 4 of section 10 of the Court of Claims Act?, and

(2) When does a claim for a Dole type apportionment against the State accrue for purposes of computing the jurisdictional time limitations for filing such a claim?

Prior to the landmark decision in Dole, the operative terminology with respect to the rights between and amongst joint tort-feasors was "contribution” and "indemnity”. Contribution was defined as the right of one tort-feasor, having been found jointly liable to the plaintiff and having paid more than his pro-rata share under a joint judgment recovered against him and others, to seek reimbursement from the other tort-feasors also held liable under such joint judgment of the amount paid in excess of his pro rata share. (Putvin v Buffalo Elec. Co., 5 NY2d 447.) Indemnity was defined as the right, based upon [430]*430contract, express or implied, of one tort-feasor, having paid in full on a judgment entered against him, to seek reimbursement from a joint tort-feasor of the amount so paid. The basis of such latter right is founded in the judicially recognized notion that one who is secondarily (or passively) negligent is entitled to be indemnified by the primary (or active) wrongdoer. (Putvin v Buffalo Elec. Co., supra.) Regardless of the technical distinctions, a separate action for indemnity or contribution was governed by the six-year Statute of Limitations (CPLR 213) and not by the statutory period for negligence actions. (Musco v Conte, 22 AD2d 121.)

The court’s decision in Dole in essence, removed the inflexibility of the rights to contribution and indemnity by creating a hew right of apportionment. Under pre-Dole law, unless tort-feasors were sued jointly and held liable equally, the right of contribution under the statute as it then existed would not apply. This new right of apportionment does have the practical effect of eliminating the distinctions between contribution and indemnity and while not abrogating the statutory right of contribution, rendering that classic statutory relief obsolete in most cases. In cases involving multiple tort-feasors, the Court of Appeals has also eliminated the prior active-passive distinction in certain indemnity type cases and now permits a consideration of the relative responsibilities of tort-feasors and an apportionment of their liability regardless of whether they were sued jointly in the underlying damage action or not.

The decision in Dole, left undecided the question as to whether or not the newly created right of apportionment would be governed by the Statute of Limitations for negligence actions, or by the six-year period applicable to "contribution” and "indemnity” claims as before. Resolution of this issue is peculiarly necessary and distinctive as applied to the State of New York with respect to its availability to suit only in the Court of Claims and as well to the jurisdictional requirements of timely filing of claims under the Court of Claims Act.

Subdivision 3 of section 10 of the Court of Claims Act provides as follows: "3.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Dublin v. Virgin Islands Telephone Corp.
15 V.I. 214 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 1978)
Relyea v. State
59 A.D.2d 364 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1977)
Bay Ridge Air Rights, Inc. v. State
57 A.D.2d 237 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1977)
Berlin & Jones, Inc. v. State
85 Misc. 2d 970 (New York State Court of Claims, 1976)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
83 Misc. 2d 426, 371 N.Y.S.2d 766, 1975 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2920, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/osullivan-v-state-nyclaimsct-1975.