Court Opinion

ID: 9877257
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-27 15:52:29.198027+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:47:20.349050
License: Public Domain

Smith and Scudder, JJ.
(dissenting). We respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion in appeal No. 1 that Supreme Court properly dismissed the sixth, seventh and eighth causes of action related to plaintiff’s claim that defendants violated State Finance Law § 189 (1) (a), (b), and (g) insofar as those causes of action allege that defendants made a false record or fraudulent claim related to inappropriate sales revenue recognition, and the 12th cause of action, alleging retaliation in violation of State Finance Law § 191. We therefore dissent in part in appeal No. 1.
As the majority explains, defendants made a pre-answer motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to CPLR 3211, which the court converted to a summary judgment motion pursuant to CPLR 3211 (c). We respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion that plaintiff’s claims related to inappropriate sales revenue are raised for the first time on appeal and thus are not preserved for our review. We also disagree with the majority that the complaint fails to allege those claims in the sixth, seventh and eighth causes of action. Those causes of action allege violations of State Finance Law § 189 (1) (a), (b), and (g), *1202respectively, and specifically incorporate paragraphs, inter alia, 1 through 36, which address plaintiff’s allegations regarding inappropriate sales revenue recognition.
Instead, we conclude that defendants failed to meet their initial burden of establishing their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law with respect to those claims (see Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557, 562 [1980]; Blackburn v James J. Shapiro PA, Inc., 288 AD2d 870, 871 [2001]). Indeed, the attorney’s affirmation submitted in support of the motion does not address those claims and none of the supporting documentation is in admissible form (see CPLR 3212 [b]; Zuckerman, 49 NY2d at 562). Although defendants also failed to meet their burden with respect to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 9th, 10th and 11th causes of action, we agree with the majority that those parts of the order dismissing those causes of action should not be disturbed. We would therefore modify the order in appeal No. 1 by reinstating the claims of inappropriate revenue recognition in the 6th, 7th and 8th causes of action and the 12th cause of action alleging retaliation. We dissent in appeal No. 2, because we would therefore also reverse the order in appeal No. 2 appointing a referee to determine reasonable attorneys’ fees.
Present — Whalen, P.J., Smith, Carni, Curran and Scud-der, JJ.