Williams v. New York City Transit Authority

188 Misc. 2d 18, 724 N.Y.S.2d 830, 2001 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 122
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedApril 10, 2001
StatusPublished

This text of 188 Misc. 2d 18 (Williams v. New York City Transit Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Civil Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. New York City Transit Authority, 188 Misc. 2d 18, 724 N.Y.S.2d 830, 2001 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 122 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Carol R. Edmead, J.

This is an action for damages by a pro se plaintiff who alleges that she suffered emotional distress due to offensive and racist comments made by a New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) bus driver, who accused her of attempting to avoid paying the fare for her young daughter.1 Defendant NYCTA has moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to serve a notice of claim, failure to appear for a statutory hearing (oral examination), failure to wait 30 days from the notice of claim to file a summons, and failure to state a cause of action in the complaint.

The plaintiff argues that she filed a notice of claim and only failed to appear fdr the hearing because she was not properly notified. She also contends that, because the complaint was drafted by the court clerk, she should not be responsible for any defects, but has requested leave to amend the complaint.

The exhibits offered by the parties indicate that the plaintiff filed a timely notice of claim2 3and waited the requisite 30 days before serving a summons,3 as required by Public Authorities Law § Í2Í2 (4). In, its reply affirmation, the NYCTA concedes that a notice, ofi claim was timely filed, but contends that the notice is inadequate because it alleges violations of state and federal civil rights, whereas the complaint alleges tortious conduct.

It is true that the notice of claim, drafted by the pro sé plaintiff, refers to1 violations of civil rights. However, it' also alleges that the plaintiff suffered “grievous mental harm, humiliation, embarrassment, and ensuing physical harm” caused by “the negligent and intentional acts, conduct, omissions and or commissions” of the Transit Authority and its employees. There are also allegations of defamation and negligent “hiring, retaining and supervising.” These are tortious claims.

The notice of claim “must include the nature of the claim and the manner in which it arose. The purpose of the notice of [20]*20claim requirement ‘is to afford the [Transit Authority] “an adequate opportunity to investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident and to explore the merits of the claim while information is still readily available.” ’ ” (Brown v New York City Tr. Auth., 172 AD2d 178, 180 [1st Dept 1991], quoting Caselli v City of New York, 105 AD2d 251, 252 [2d Dept 1984]; accord LaBorde v Most Serv. Co., 270 AD2d 462 [2d Dept 2000]; Mojica v New York City Tr. Auth., 117 AD2d 722 [2d Dept 1986].) The instant notice of claim states with great specificity the date, time, and location of the incident, as well as the manner in which the claim arose. Thus, the Transit Authority had ample information and opportunity to investigate the plaintiff’s claim. Therefore, the notice of claim is legally sufficient.

The NYCTA also argues that the complaint should be dismissed because it “fails to give defendant notice of the nature and location of the claim and thus fails to state a cause of action.”4 The complaint does not comply with the requirements of CPLR 3013, which specifies that pleadings “shall be sufficiently particular to give the court and parties notice of the transactions, occurrences, or series of transactions or occurrences, intended to be proved and the material elements of each cause of action or defense.”

Neither is CPLR 3014 complied with. This section provides that “[e]very pleading shall consist of plain and concise statements in consecutively numbered paragraphs. Each paragraph shall contain, as far as practicable, a single allegation * * * Separate causes of action or defenses shall be separately stated and numbered.” (CPLR 3014.) Further, the complaint fails to meet the requirements of Public Authorities Law § 1212 (1) and (4).

The plaintiff has moved for leave to amend the complaint. CPLR 3025 provides that leave to amend pleadings “shall be freely given.” Accordingly, the plaintiff’s application for leave to amend the complaint is granted.

The NYCTA also argues that the complaint must be dismissed because the plaintiff failed to appear for an oral examination, as required by Public Authorities Law § 1212 (5). The plaintiff counters that she did not appear because she [21]*21received notice via regular mail,5 whereas General Municipal Law § 50-h (2) requires that a demand for an oral examination be served personally or by registered or certified mail if the claimant is not represented by counsel. The NYCTA replies that, being “a public benefit corporation and not a municipal corporation,” it is not bound by the oral examination requirements of General Municipal Law § 50-h, but instead by Public Authorities Law § 1212 (5), which does not specify how the authority must notify a claimant when it requires the claimant to appear for a hearing.

General Municipal Law § 50-h (2), governing suits against municipalities, does require that, when the city makes a demand for an oral or physical examination, the demand must “be served personally or by registered or certified mail upon the claimant” if the claimant is not represented by counsel.6 It “can [not] be held that section 1212 of the Public Authorities Law must be read in the light of the provisions of section 50-h of the General Municipal Law. Section 1212, insofar as it refers to the General Municipal Law, does so only with respect to section 50-e and the serving of notice.” (Hernandez v New York City Tr. Auth., 41 Misc 2d 123, 124 [Sup Ct, NY County 1963], affd 20 AD2d 968 [1st Dept 1964].)

Public Authorities Law § 1212, which governs suits against the Transit Authority, on the other hand, is silent as to the method the Transit Authority must use to notify claimants to appear for an oral examination. This Court will not impose the requirements of General Municipal Law § 50-h on the Transit Authority. The plaintiff concedes that she did receive the notice of the scheduled hearing. That suffices.

The NYCTA further contends that compliance with the oral examination requirement is a condition precedent to commencing suit. Thus, the NYCTA argues, the plaintiffs failure to appear for a hearing requires dismissal of the complaint. Ironically, although the Transit Authority argues that General Municipal Law § 50-h is not applicable to it, it string cites to eight decisions, all of which apply General Municipal Law § 50-h, for the proposition that failure to appear for an exami[22]*22nation constitutes grounds for dismissal of the complaint. (See, e.g., Arcila v Incorporated Vil. of Freeport, 231 AD2d 660 [2d Dept 1996]; Schrader v Town of Orangetown, 226 AD2d 620 [2d Dept 1996].) Even Hill v New York City Tr. Auth. (206 AD2d 969 [4th Dept 1994]), cited by the Transit Authority, holds that “Because plaintiff commenced her action before complying with General Municipal Law § 50-h (1), the court properly dismissed the complaint.”7

General Municipal Law § 50-h (5) is quite specific as to the consequences of a claimant’s failure to comply with a demand for an examination.

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Related

Lo Guercio v. New York City Transit Authority
31 A.D.2d 759 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1969)
Caselli v. City of New York
105 A.D.2d 251 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1984)
Mojica v. New York City Transit Authority
117 A.D.2d 722 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1986)
La Vigna v. County of Westchester
160 A.D.2d 564 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1990)
Brown v. New York City Transit Authority
172 A.D.2d 178 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1991)
Hill v. New York City Transit Authority
206 A.D.2d 969 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1994)
Schrader v. Town of Orangetown
226 A.D.2d 620 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Arcila v. Incorporated Village of Freeport
231 A.D.2d 660 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Herrera v. New York City Transit Authority
234 A.D.2d 207 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Pilgrim v. New York City Transit Authority
235 A.D.2d 527 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1997)
LaBorde v. Most Service Co.
270 A.D.2d 462 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2000)
Hernandez v. New York City Transit Authority
41 Misc. 2d 123 (New York Supreme Court, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
188 Misc. 2d 18, 724 N.Y.S.2d 830, 2001 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-new-york-city-transit-authority-nycivct-2001.