Vargas v. Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, LLP

2017 NY Slip Op 1269, 147 A.D.3d 551, 46 N.Y.S.3d 784

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: February 16, 2017
• Docket: 3106 160556/13
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Manuel J. Mendez, J.), entered on or about April 12, 2016, which granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion denied.

Summary judgment was improperly granted, because the record presents triable issues of fact as to whether defendant had constructive notice of the alleged defective condition. The deposition testimony of defendant’s manager of office and building services and the affidavit of its assistant manager are insufficient to demonstrate that defendant lacked constructive notice of the piece of metal sticking out from the leg of one of its mailroom tables, because both individuals lacked personal knowledge as to when the table or its legs were last inspected or their condition before the accident (see e.g. Dylan P. v Webster Place Assoc., L.P., 132 AD3d 537 [1st Dept 2015], affd 27 NY3d 1055 [2016]; Rodriquez v Concourse Vil. Inc., 104 AD3d 410 [1st Dept 2013]; Baptiste v 1626 Meat Corp., 45 AD3d 259 [1st Dept 2007]).

Concur — Friedman, J.P., Mazzarelli, Andrias, Feinman and Gesmer, JJ.