Scannapieco v. City of New York

298 A.D.2d 81, 749 N.Y.S.2d 36, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9115
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedSeptember 30, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 298 A.D.2d 81 (Scannapieco v. City of New York) 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
Scannapieco v. City of New York, 298 A.D.2d 81, 749 N.Y.S.2d 36, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9115 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Cozier, J.

The issue on this appeal is one of first impression for this Court — whether a trial court is authorized to direct a defendant in a personal injury action to make an accelerated lump-sum payment of annuity benefits for future damages for the period of time from the date of the verdict through the entry of judgment. For the reasons stated herein, we conclude that annuity payments are to commence from the date of the verdict, and that where there is a significant delay between the date of the verdict and the entry of judgment, a trial court is authorized to direct an accelerated lump-sum payment of annuity benefits for future damages for the period from the date of verdict until the entry of judgment.

The plaintiffs commenced this action against the City of New York (hereinafter the City), inter alia, to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff Douglas Scannapieco (hereinafter the plaintiff Scannapieco) during the course of his employment as a steamfitter with the Board of Education of the City of New York.

A trial was commenced in Supreme Court, Kings County, in April 1997, and a verdict on the issue of liability was entered in favor of the plaintiffs on April 25, 1997. Thereafter, a trial was held on the issue of damages, and on May 2, 1997, the jury returned a verdict which awarded the plaintiff Scannapieco $21,290 for past medical expenses, $100,000 for lost earnings, and $370,000 for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment [83]*83of life, totaling $491,290 in past damages, as well as $2,570,000 for future damages. The jury also awarded the plaintiff Kathy Scannapieco (hereinafter the plaintiff spouse) $60,000 for past loss of services and $365,000 for future loss of services. On July 9, 1998, the Supreme Court entered a structured judgment (hereinafter the 1998 judgment) in favor of the plaintiffs which provided, inter alia, that the City purchase an annuity contract with respect to the payment of remaining future damages in excess of $250,000.

The City appealed from the 1998 judgment (hereinafter the 1999 appeal), arguing that the jury award of damages was excessive, and that the trial court erred in the manner in which it structured that judgment. On appeal, this Court issued a decision and order, dated December 20, 1999, which modified the 1998 judgment and ordered a new trial as to damages unless the plaintiffs agreed to reduce the verdict as follows: to the sum of $300,000 (from $850,000) for future pain and suffering; to the sum of $1,000,000 (from $1,700,000) for future lost earnings for the plaintiff Scannapieco; to the sum of $5,000 (from $60,000) for the plaintiff spouse’s past loss of services; and to the sum of $25,000 (from $365,000) for her future loss of services (see Scannapieco v City of New York, 267 AD2d 373). This Court also held that the trial court properly structured the 1998 judgment (see Scannapieco v City of New York, supra). Further, this Court remitted the matter to the Supreme Court, Kings County, for entry of an amended judgment.

By stipulation dated January 18, 2000, the plaintiffs consented to the reduced amounts determined by this Court. Thereafter, the City purchased annuity contracts which provided that payments were to commence on March 1, 2000, for the plaintiff Scannapieco’s jury award for future lost earnings, medical expenses, and pain and suffering in excess of $250,000 (see CPLR 5041 [e]). However, the annuity contract did not provide for any payments from April 1997 through March 2000.

In February 2000, the plaintiffs moved, inter alia, to direct the City to make immediate payment of all claimed past due annuity payments. The plaintiffs contended that inasmuch as the jury’s liability and damages verdicts were rendered in April and May 1997, respectively, the plaintiff Scannapieco was owed almost three years of past due annuity payments.

However, the City maintained that neither the 1998 judgment nor CPLR articles 50-A or 50-B authorized an advance lump-sum annuity payment as requested by the plaintiffs. The City noted that CPLR article 50-A only provided for the ac[84]*84celeration of annuity payments where the judgment debtor failed to make payments in a timely fashion (see CPLR 5044) or where continued payment of the judgment in periodic installments would create a hardship (see CPLR 5046). Consequently, the City argued that the plaintiffs never asserted that the City failed to make payments in a timely fashion or made an application for the acceleration of payments.

The City also argued that annuity payments were due from the date of the entry of judgment. The 1998 judgment provided, inter alia, that the City would purchase an annuity contract wherein annual payments in equal monthly installments would begin “today” and extend for a certain time period. As such, the City maintained that payments were due from the date of the 1998 judgment. Further, the City contended that CPLR 5519 (a) stayed the enforcement of the provision of the 1998 judgment regarding the annuity payments and all other payments when the City filed its notice of appeal. Therefore, the City asserted that it was only required to make payment following entry of the amended judgment and following the expiration of the stay on December 20, 1999, the date of this Court’s prior decision and order. In addition, the City maintained that the advance lump-sum annuity payment requested by the plaintiffs would overcompensate them, and that they would be sufficiently compensated through the award of nine percent statutory interest, in a lump sum, on all future damages as of the date of the verdict, pursuant to CPLR 5004.

The plaintiffs argued in their reply papers that CPLR 5041 (e) required, inter alia, that the period of time used to calculate the present value of the annuity contract was the period of years determined by the jury in rendering its verdict. In substance, the plaintiffs argued that the period of years determined by the jury commenced from the date of verdict, rather than from the date of the 1998 judgment, or from the date of this Court’s modification of the 1998 judgment, or from the date designated by the City. Further, the plaintiffs maintained that the jury did not intend for payment to begin “approximately four years” after the verdict, namely, on March 1, 2000.

The Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs’ motion, inter alia, to direct the City to make an immediate lump-sum payment of all past due annuity payments and entered an amended judgment in favor of the plaintiffs , on April 25, 2000. In reaching its determination, the Supreme Court found that CPLR 5041 (e) specifically defined the time frame in which periodic annuity [85]*85payments must be made and held that the jury intended that the plaintiff Scannapieco receive all of his future items of damages from the date of verdict and not from any subsequent date asserted by the City.

The Supreme Court also held that had the City not taken an appeal and obtained an automatic stay of enforcement with respect to its payment of lump-sum damages and periodic annuity payments (see CPLR 5519 [a] [1]), it would have been required to make monthly payments in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

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Bluebook (online)
298 A.D.2d 81, 749 N.Y.S.2d 36, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9115, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scannapieco-v-city-of-new-york-nyappdiv-2002.