Court Opinion

ID: 9930961
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-07 21:08:59.226708+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:13:53.073361
License: Public Domain

Jones v Penn Cent. Corp.
               2024 NY Slip Op 30366(U)
                    February 1, 2024
           Supreme Court, New York County
        Docket Number: Index No. 154342/2023
                   Judge: Judy H. Kim
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.
                                                                                                                      INDEX NO. 154342/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 25                                                                                            RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/01/2024

                                   SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
                                             NEW YORK COUNTY
            PRESENT:             HON. JUDY H. KIM                                                 PART                             04
                                                                                       Justice
            ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------X   INDEX NO.          154342/2023
             JAMES V JONES,
                                                                                                  MOTION DATE         06/07/2023
                                                         Plaintiff,
                                                                                                  MOTION SEQ. NO.         001
                                                 - V -

             THE PENN CENTRAL CORPORATION NK/AAMERICAN
             PREMIER UNDERWRITERS, INC., CONSOLIDATED RAIL                                          DECISION + ORDER ON
             CORPORATION, METRO-NORTH RAILROAD,                                                           MOTION

                                                         Defendants.
            ------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------X

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19
            were read on this motion for                                                          SUBSTITUTION

                      In this negligence action brought under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, 45 USC §51

            et seq., alleging, in sum and substance, that defendants were negligent in exposing employees,

            including plaintiff James V. Jones, to cancer-causing chemicals and materials, plaintiff Geraldine

            Herlihy, as representative of the estate of James V. Jones, now moves, pursuant to CPLR §§ 1015

            and 1021, to vacate the automatic stay of proceedings imposed by operation oflaw upon Mr. Jones'

            death and be substituted as plaintiff in his place. Herlihy also moves, pursuant to CPLR §305( c)

            and CPLR §203(e), for an order granting plaintiff leave to amend the complaint to add a claim for

            wrongful death and deem this claim timely filed.

                                                                      DISCUSSION

                      It is well settled that, where an administrator or executor is appointed as representative of

            the estate of a decedent who was the party to a pending action, substitution and amendment of the

            caption, upon motion, is proper (See~' Tag 380, LLC v Estate of Howard P. Ronson, 69 AD3d

             154342/2023 JONES, JAMES V vs. THE PENN CENTRAL CORPORATION A/KIA AMERICAN                               Page 1 of4
             PREMIER UNDERWRITERS, INC. ET AL
             Motion No. 001

                                                                            1 of 4
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                                                                                                INDEX NO. 154342/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 25                                                                      RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/01/2024

            471, 473-474 [1st Dept 2010]). In this case, movant has submitted sufficient proof that she is the

            duly appointed executor of the decedent's estate (i.e., the Last Will and Testament and Death

            Certificate of decedent and New Jersey Monmouth County Surrogate's Court Executor Short

            Certificate). Accordingly, that branch of the motion to vacate the stay of this action, substitute

            movant for plaintiff James V. Jones, and amend the caption to reflect this substitution is granted

            without opposition.

                   However, that branch of the motion to amend the complaint to add a wrongful death claim

            is denied without prejudice. Generally,"[ o]n a motion for leave to amend a pleading, movant need

            not establish the merit of the proposed new allegations, but must simply show that the proffered

            amendment is not palpably insufficient or clearly devoid of merit" (Miller v Cohen, 93 A.D.3d

            424,425 [1st Dept 2012] [internal quotation marks omitted]). However, "[a] motion seeking leave

            to amend a personal injury complaint to assert a cause of action for wrongful death must be

            supported by competent medical proof of the causal connection between the alleged [negligence]

            and the death of the original plaintiff' (Cruz v Brown, 129 AD3d 455,456 [1st Dept 2015] [internal

            citations omitted]; see also Griffin v New York City Auth., 1 AD3d 141, 142 [1st Dept 2003]).

            Here, no expert affidavit or other competent medical proof has been submitted.

                   While a decedent's death certificate may, under certain circumstances, be sufficient to

            establish a causal connection (See ~ ' Gosse v St. Peter's Hosp. of City of Albany, 23 Misc 3d

            892, 900 [Sup Ct, Albany County 2009]) it is insufficient to do so here-the proposed amended

            complaint alleges that as a proximate result of defendants' negligence, the decedent sustained

            injuries including bladder cancer and lymphoma, resulting in his eventual death (NYSCEF Doc.

            No. 24 [Proposed Am. Compl. at ,J86]) while the death certificate lists the cause of death as

            cardiopulmonary arrest due to (or as a consequence of) congestive heart failure.

             154342/2023 JONES, JAMES V vs. THE PENN CENTRAL CORPORATION A/KIA AMERICAN         Page 2 of 4
             PREMIER UNDERWRITERS, INC. ET AL
             Motion No. 001

                                                         2 of 4
[* 2]
                                                                                                                      INDEX NO. 154342/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 25                                                                                           RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/01/2024

                      Accordingly, it is

                      ORDERED that the motion of Geraldine Herlihy, as executor of the estate of James V.

            Jones, deceased, to be substituted as plaintiff in this action and amend the caption accordingly is

            granted, without opposition; and it is further,

                      ORDERED that the automatic stay of proceedings imposed by operation of law upon the

            decedent's death is dissolved; and it is further

                      ORDERED that the caption is amended to read as follows:

            SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
            COUNTY OF NEW YORK
            ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- X
            GERALDINE HERLIHY, Executrix for the
            Estate of JAMES V. JONES,

                                                       Plaintiff,                             Index No. 154342/2023

                                  -against-

            THE PENN CENTRAL CORPORATION a/k/a
            AMERICAN PREMIER UNDERWRITERS, INC.,
            CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATION and
            METRO-NORTH RAILROAD,

                                                       Defendants.
            ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- X

            and it is further

                      ORDERED that the branch of plaintiff's motion for leave to amend the complaint to add

            a cause of action for wrongful death is denied without prejudice; and it is further

                      ORDERED that movant shall, within twenty days of the date of this decision and order,

            serve a copy of this decision and order, with notice of entry, upon the County Clerk and the Clerk

            of the General Clerk's Office, who are directed to mark the court's records to reflect the change in

            the caption herein; and it is further

                      ORDERED that such service upon the County Clerk and the Clerk of the General Clerk's

            Office shall be made in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Protocol on Courthouse

             154342/2023 JONES, JAMES V vs. THE PENN CENTRAL CORPORATION A/K/A AMERICAN                               Page 3 of 4
             PREMIER UNDERWRITERS, INC. ET AL
             Motion No. 001

                                                                             3 of 4
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                                                                                                   INDEX NO. 154342/2023
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 25                                                                        RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/01/2024

            and County Clerk Procedures for Electronically Filed Cases (accessible at the "E-Filing" page on

            the court's website).

                    This constitutes the decision and order of the Court.

                     2/1/2024
                      DATE                                                      HON. JUDY H. KIM, J.S.C.

                                     ~
             CHECK ONE:                  CASE DISPOSED                  NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

                                         GRANTED         □ DENIED       GRANTED IN PART          □ OTHER
             APPLICATION:                SETTLE ORDER                   SUBMIT ORDER

             CHECK IF APPROPRIATE:       INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN     FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT    □ REFERENCE

             154342/2023 JONES, JAMES V vs. THE PENN CENTRAL CORPORATION A/KIA AMERICAN            Page4 of 4
             PREMIER UNDERWRITERS, INC. ET AL
             Motion No. 001

                                                           4 of 4
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