Simmons v Gateway I TP4 Hous. Dev. Fund Co., Inc.

2024 NY Slip Op 31752(U)

May 21, 2024

Supreme Court, New York County

Docket Number: Index No. 151541/2019

Judge: Sabrina Kraus

Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip

Op 30001 (U), are republished from various New York

State and local government sources, including the New

York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service.

This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official

publication.151541/2019 SIMMONS, EVE LYN vs. GATEWAY I TP4 HOUSING

Motion No. 005 Page 1 of 5 The following e

- filed documents, l isted by NYSCEF document number (Motion 005) 125, 126, 127, 128

were read on this motion to/for SEVER ACTION

.

B A C K G R O U N D

Plaintiff c o m m e n c e d t h i s personal injury/product liability action seeking damages for

serious injuries suffered by Plaintiff as the result of a n a l l e g e d defective and dangerous stove.

T h e s u m m o n s a n d c o m p l a i n t w e r e f i l e d i n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 9

. D i s c o v e r y i n t h i s a c t i o n i s n o w

a l l e g e d b y P l a i n t i f

f t o b e c o m p l e t e

. H o w e v e r

, o n F e b r u a r y 1 5

, 2 0 2 4

, Robertshaw Controls

Company ( “ S h a w ” ) notified the Court of it s ’ filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United

States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas

.

P l a i n t i f f

, w h o h a s b e e n pursuing t h i s a c t i o n f o r f i v e y e a r s a n d i s n o w e i g h t y y e a r s o l d

,

w i s h e s t o p r o c e e d t o t r i a l a g a i n s t t h e o t h e r d e f e n d a n t s i n t h i s a c t i o n

, a n d n o w m o v e s f o r a n o r d e r

pursuant to CPLR § 3217(b), to discontinue Plaintiff’s claims against Shaw ; and pursuant to

CPLR § 407, to sever any remaining claims against Shaw from the within proceeding

.



### SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK COUNTY

PRESENT: HON. SABRINA KRAUS PART 57M

Justice

----------------------------------------------------------------- -- -------------- X INDEX NO. 151541/2019

MOTION DATE 04/22/2024

MOTION SEQ. NO. 005

DECISION + ORDER ON

MOTION EVELYN SIMMONS,

Plaintiff,

- v

-

GATEWAY I TP4 HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND

COMPANY, INC.,GATEWAY I TP4 LLC,MANHATTAN

NORTH MANAGEMENT COMPANY, INC.,PEERLESS

PREMIER APPLIANCE CO., TAHL

- PROPP EQUITIES

LLC,ROBERTSHAW CONTRO LS COMPANY

Defendant.

------------------------------------------------------------------- -- ------------ X INDEX NO. 151541/2019

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 129 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/21/2024

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### [* 1]151541/2019 SIMMONS, EVE LYN vs. GATEWAY I TP4 HOUSING

Motion No. 005 Page 2 of 5 O n M a y 2 0

, 2 0 2 4

, t h e m o t i o n w a s f u l l y b r i e f e d

, marked s u b m i t t e d a n d t h e C o u r t r e s e r v e d

d e c i s i o n

. T h e m o t i o n i s g r a n t e d f o r t h e r e a s o n s s e t f

o r t h b e l o w

.

D I S C U S S I O N

P laintiff filed the n ote of i ssue on March 28, 2024

. O n April 4, 2024, Plaintiff filed a

m otion for t rial p reference b a s e d o n h e r a g e

. .

On April 16, 2024, Peerless Premier Applicance Co. ( “ Peerless”) filed a letter requesting

that the Court declare Plaintiff ’ s filings a nullity a l l e g i n g the bankruptcy notif ication filed by

Shaw triggered an automatic stay pursuant to Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws. P e e r l e s s further

requested that the Court mark the matter stayed pending motion practice by Plaintiff to lift the

stay or sever Shaw from the case.

P l a i n t i f f

, a t t h e C o u r t ’ s r e q u e s t

, h a s v o l u n t a r i l y w i t h d r a w n h e r n o t e o f i s s u e

, c ertificate of

r eadiness, and m otion for t rial p reference pending the C ourt’s decision on the w ithin m otion

.

I t is “well settled that “[t]he automatic stay provisions of the Federal bankruptcy laws ...

do not extend to nonbankrupt codefendants.”]. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v

Oxford Venture Partners , LLC, 13 A.D.3d 89 (1st Dept. 2004).

Pursuant to CPLR 3217(b) , the decision of whether to grant a motion to “ voluntarily

discontinue an action pursuant to CPLR 3217(b) rests within the sound discretion of the court.”

Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB v. Moore , 220 A.D.3d 656, 656

– 57 (2nd Dep’t 2023).

“Ordinarily, a party cannot be compelled to litigate a nd, absent special circumstances, leave to

discontinue a cause of action should be granted.” St. James Plaza v. Notey , 166 A.D.2d 439,

(N.Y. App. Div. 1990).

P e e r l e s s o p p o s e s t h e m o t i o n

. N o o t h e r d e f e n d a n t s h a v e s u b m i t t e d o p p o s i t i o n

. INDEX NO. 151541/2019

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### [* 2]151541/2019 SIMMONS, EVE LYN vs. GATEWAY I TP4 HOUSING

Motion No. 005 Page 3 of 5 P e e r l e s s a r g u e s t h a t t h e Court should deny P laintiff’s motion because allowin g P laintiff

to discontinue her claims against S haw and to sever Peerless’ cross

- claims against S haw would

unduly burden the Court a n d P e e r l e s s with duplicative litigation. P e e r l e s s a l s o a r g u e s t h a t i t

w o u l d b e prejudiced i n i t s a b i l i t y t o d e f e n d t h e a c t i o n

.

P e e r l e s s a l l e g e s t h a t S haw is a component supplier to Peerless

, a n d t h a t S h a w supplied

the spark ignition module component which P laintiff claims i s at issue

. W hile Peerless denies

any liability for product defect

, to the extent Peerless is found liable, Peerless seek s an allocation

against S haw for CPLR Article 16 purposes and also seek s contribution and/or indemnification

from S haw on its cross

- claims.

“It has been generally held that the balance of the equities lies with plaintiffs when one

defendant has received an automatic stay pursuant to 11 USC § 362(a) ... and codefendants

request a stay of the entire action.” Moy v. St. Vincent's Hosp. & Med. Ctr. of New York , 92

A.D.3d 651, 652 (2d Dep’t 20 12)

. The prejudice in having to wait for a trial pending lengthy

bankruptcy proceedings is particularly pronounced for Plaintiffs who are advanced in age. Katz

v. Mount Vernon Dialysis , LLC, 121 A.D.3d 856, 857 (2d Dep’t 2014)

.

G i v e n t h a t d i s c o v e r y h a s b e e n completed and t h e a c t i o n i s t r i a l r e a d y

, requiring P l a i n t i f f

t o w a i t t h e c o n c l u s i o n o f a length y r e o r g a n i z a t i o n p r o c e e d i n g b e f o r e h a v i n g h e r d a y i n c o u r t

w o u l d s e v e r e l y p r e

j u d i c e t h e P l a i n t i f

f a n d p o s s i b l y e n t i r e l y r o b h e r o f a d a y i n c o u r t

. Golden v.

Moscowitz , 1 94 A.D.2d 385, 385 (1st Dep’t 1993) ; Vogric v. Pathmark Stores, Inc ., 169 A.D.3d

1096, 1098 (2d Dep’t 2019)

.

T h e m o t i o n i s g r a n t e d w i t h o u t prejudice t o P e e r l e s s b e i n g p e r m i t t e d t o s e e k a n a l l o c a t i o n

a s t o S h a w ’ s l i a b i l i t y a t t h e S i m m o n s t r i a l f o r C P L R A r t i c l e 1 6 p u r p o s e s

. Vogric v Pathmark

Stores, Inc ., 169 A.D.3d 1096, 1098 (2d Dept. 2019)( severing case but finding that defendants INDEX NO. 151541/2019

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Motion No. 005 Page 4 of 5 maintain the benefit of their rights under CPLR article 16, such that if their culpability is 50% or

less, their exposure for noneconomic damages should be limited proportionately to their share of

fault ).

CONCLUSION

W H E R E F O R E i t i s h e r e b y :

ORDERED that P l a i n t i f

f ’ s m o t i o n i s g r a n t e d a n d the action is d i s c o n t i n u e d as to defendant

ROBERTSHAW CONTROLS COMPANY , and is continued a n d s h a l l p r o c e e d t o t r i a l as to the

remaining defendants; and it is further

O R D E R E D t h a t a n y r e m a i n i n g c l a i m s a g a i n s t ROBERTSHAW CONTROLS COMPANY

,

i n c l u d i n g t h e c r o s s

- c l a i m s o f PEERLESS PREMIER APPLIANCE CO a r e s e v e r e d a n d s h a l l b e

c o n v e r t e d t o a t h i r d p a r t y a c t i o n ; a n d i t i s f u r t h e r

ORDERED that t h e third

- party a c t i o n i s stayed , except for an application to vacate or

modify said stay; a nd it is further

ORDERED that e i t h e r party t o t h e third

- party a c t i o n may make an application by order to

show cause to vacate or modify this stay upon the final determination of, or vacatur of the stay

issued by the Bankruptcy Court , pending before the United States Bankruptcy Court for t h e

S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f T e x a s , Action No. 2 4

- 9 0 0 5 2 ; and it is further

ORDERED that movant is directed to serve a copy of this order with notice of entry on the

Clerk of the General Clerk’s Office within ten days from entry and the Clerk shall mark the action

d i s c o n t i n u e d as to ROBERTSHAW CONTROLS COMPANY

, t h e c r o s s c l a i m s s e v e r e d a n d

c o n v e r t e d t o a third

- party a c t i o n a n d s a i d t h i r d p a r t y a c t i o n stayed as provided herein ; and it is

further INDEX NO. 151541/2019

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Motion No. 005 Page 5 of 5 ORDERED that such ser vice upon the Clerk of the General Clerk’s Office shall be made

in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Protocol on Courthouse and County Clerk

Procedures for Electronically Filed Cases (accessible at the “E

- Filing” page on the court’s

website)] ; a n d i t i s f

u r t h e r

O R D E R E D t h a t t h e parties t i m e t o f i l e d i s p o s i t i v e m o t i o n s i s e x t e n d e d t o 9 0 d a y s f r o m t h e

d a t e o f t h i s o r d e r

.

T h i s c o n s t i t u t e s t h e d e c i s i o n a n d o r d e r o f t h e C o u r t

.

5/21/2024

DATE SABRINA KRAUS, J.S.C.

CHECK ONE: CASE DISPOSED X NON

- FINAL DISPOSITION

X GRANTED DENIED GRANTED IN PART OTHER

APPLICATION: SETTLE ORDER SUBMIT ORDER

CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT REFERENCE INDEX NO. 151541/2019

NYSCEF DOC. NO. 129 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/21/2024

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