Public Administrator of Bronx County v. 485 East 188th Street Realty Corp.

116 A.D.3d 1, 981 N.Y.S.2d 381

This text of 116 A.D.3d 1 (Public Administrator of Bronx County v. 485 East 188th Street Realty Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Public Administrator of Bronx County v. 485 East 188th Street Realty Corp., 116 A.D.3d 1, 981 N.Y.S.2d 381 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Gische, J.

This personal injury and wrongful death action arises from a flash fire in which Ferrel Carino, also known as Jose Carino, was severely burned; he subsequently passed away. Carino’s estate is represented in this case by the Public Administrator.

On July 26, 2006, while Carino was supervising a work crew refinishing wood floors in apartment 1A at a building owned by defendant 485 East 188th Street Realty Corp. (485 East), the products they were applying suddenly ignited. Carino was seriously burned in the fire and passed away only weeks later. Carino was employed by Appula Management Corp., which was defendant 485 East’s residential property management company. The work crew included Victor Marache, who brought separate actions for his own injuries, and Danny Carino. Vito Manginelli was the sole owner and officer of both 485 East and Appula. He hired the work crew to rehabilitate empty apartments on behalf of the owner. The crew was responsible for all the rehabilitation work, which at times included refinishing the wood floors. Manginelli generally oversaw the floor refinishing work, even though he was a two to five minute drive away when the fire erupted. Manginelli testified at his deposition that after a fire occurred during another floor refinishing project only months before this fire, he decided to “babysit” the crew for a time. Manginelli’s brother, Angelo, was the foreman, and he purchased the floor finishing products used by the crew from defendant New Palace Painters Supply Co., Inc.

The accident occurred as the crew began the process of sealing newly sanded floors in apartment 1A. Marache was responsible for moving the buckets of sealer and polyurethane from place to place within the work site, while Jose Carino applied the substance to the floors. The sealer was applied first and allowed to dry for an hour before the polyurethane was applied. As Carino completed the polyurethane application, a fire erupted near the entrance to the apartment.

After an investigation, the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) concluded that the fire was caused by flammable vapors from the lacquer sealer and/or the polyurethane floor sealer and [6]*6that the source of the ignition was “most likely” the pilot light on the stove or a spark from the refrigerator. The FDNY report also states that the gas was on in the apartment and that the refrigerator was plugged in. Victor Marache, however, testified that the refrigerator was unplugged, per Carino’s instructions. Fire Captain Roach, one of the first responders, testified that when he reached the scene, the gas and electricity were off. It is unclear, however, whether these utilities were off when FDNY arrived at the scene or turned off by FDNY in order to respond to the fire. Defendants’ expert, Harold I. Zeliger,1 could not definitively conclude whether the ignition source was the stove pilot light or a spark from the refrigerator. Burton Davidson, an expert who opined on the source of the fire in the Marache case, concluded that triboelectricity from the continual movement of the sealant products in the containers and the drippings from an applicator brush were just as likely an ignition source as a live pilot light or an electrical spark from a compressor motor. Zeliger opined, however, that the chemicals in use were not susceptible to spontaneous combustion.

Defendants’ expert concluded that the source of the flash fire could only have been the lacquer sealer because the flashpoint (the temperature at which a liquid generates vapors that can be ignited from an external source) of the polyurethane was 100 degrees Fahrenheit, while the flashpoint of the lacquer sealer was -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Since the air temperature was only 82 degrees Fahrenheit,2 Zeliger concluded that the lacquer sealer and not the polyurethane served as the fuel for the fire. Davidson opined that because of the varying flashpoints of the different substances being used, the polyurethane alone could not have been the source of the fire. He did not, however, rule out that a combination of vapors from the lacquer sealer and the polyurethane ignited that day.

Davidson stated that the lacquer sealer was prohibited for indoor use in the City of New York.

Manginelli testified that the floor refinishing crew was repeatedly told over the course of years that finishing products were [7]*7highly flammable and that before using the products all equipment were to be removed from the rooms, and the gas and electricity to the apartment was to be shut off.

The lacquer sealer was manufactured by nonparty Akzo Nobel Coatings, Inc. and distributed by defendant T.C. Dunham Paint Company, Inc. Dunham received the lacquer sealer in 55-gallon drums, repackaged the product into one and five gallon containers, and labeled these containers with its customer’s name. Dunham created its own polyurethane by blending ingredients from different chemical manufacturers. It also created labels for each of these products in its customer’s name, in this case New Palace. New Palace was a wholesale/retail paint, hardware and building supply store operating in the Bronx. It resold the products with the labels created for it by Dunham.

New Palace sold the lacquer sealer and the polyurethane to Appula. The label for the lacquer sealer contained certain warnings. The front of the lacquer sealer prominently stated “DANGER! HIGHLY FLAMMABLE! HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED.” A back label stated: “DANGER! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE: VAPORS MAY CAUSE FLASH FIRE Vapors may cause flash fire. Keep away from heat, spark and flame. Use with adequate ventilation .... DANGER! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE.”

The label did not contain any warning that the substance was prohibited for indoor use within the City of New York.

The label for the polyurethane also contained certain warnings. The front label stated: “CAUTION! COMBUSTIBLE.” The back label stated:

“CONTAINS PETROLEUM SOLVENTS: Keep away from heat and open flame. To avoid breathing vapors or spray mist, open windows and doors or use other means to ensure fresh air entry during application and drying .... Do not smoke during application and until all vapors (odors) are gone .... use only with adequate ventilation.”

Defendants’ expert opined that these warnings were sufficient, while the experts proffered by plaintiff opined that these warnings were insufficient because they were too general. Plaintiffs’ experts were particularly critical of the lacquer sealer warning, which fails to mention, as required by law, that indoor use of the product is prohibited in the City of New York. Manginelli testified that he had seen product labels for the floor [8]*8refinishing products many times over the years and that had any one of those labels contained a warning that use of the product was prohibited in the City of New York, he would not have purchased the product.

There are two orders on appeal. In the April 19, 2010 order, the motion court dismissed the complaint as against 485 East and Appula,3 finding that 485 East and Appula were indistinct legal entities and, therefore, plaintiffs exclusive remedy against them was limited to the workers’ compensation law (2010 NY Slip Op 33913[U] [2010]).

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Bluebook (online)
116 A.D.3d 1, 981 N.Y.S.2d 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/public-administrator-of-bronx-county-v-485-east-188th-street-realty-corp-nyappdiv-2014.