Court Opinion

ID: 9942835
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-21 21:09:25.528317+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:44:44.642561
License: Public Domain

Caba v New York Presbyt. Hosp.
               2024 NY Slip Op 30484(U)
                    February 14, 2024
           Supreme Court, New York County
        Docket Number: Index No. 154682/2018
                  Judge: Louis L. Nock
Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip
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                       publication.
                                                                                                                        INDEX NO. 154682/2018
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114                                                                                             RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2024

                                   SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
                                             NEW YORK COUNTY
            PRESENT:             HON. LOUIS L. NOCK                                                 PART                              38M
                                                                                      Justice
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X      INDEX NO.          154682/2018
             JULIO CABA,
                                                                                                                       01/23/2023,
                                                         Plaintiff,                                 MOTION DATE        01/26/2023

                                                 -v-                                                MOTION SEQ. NO.      002 003

             NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL, THE NEW YORK
             AND PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITALS, INC., PRESBYTERIAN
             HSP CITY NY, PLUS ONE, NYPH FITNESS CENTER,                                              DECISION + ORDER ON
             OPTUM, and OPTUM ONSITE SERVICES,                                                              MOTION
                                                         Defendants.
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document numbers (Motion 002) 67, 68, 69, 70, 71,
            72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 111, and 112
            were read on this motion for                                                         SUMMARY JUDGMENT                     .

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document numbers (Motion 003) 81, 82, 83, 84, 85,
            86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 107, 108, 109, and 110
            were read on this motion for                                                         SUMMARY JUDGMENT                     .

            LOUIS L. NOCK, J.

                      In this premises liability action, plaintiff asserts that he slipped and fell on a wet mat in

            the fitness center of New York and Presbyterian Hospital located at 627 West 165th Street, New

            York, New York. Pending before the court are defendants’ motions for summary judgment.

            Defendants Plus One, Optum, Optum On-Site Services, and NYPH Fitness Center (collectively,

            Optum), move for summary judgment dismissing the amended complaint and cross-claims,

            pursuant to CPLR 3212 (Motion Seq. No. 002). Defendant The New York and Presbyterian

            Hospital, improperly sued hereunder as New York Presbyterian Hospital, The New York and

            Presbyterian Hospitals, Inc., and Presbyterian HSP City NY (collectively, NYPH), moves for an

            order: (1) granting summary judgment dismissing the amended complaint; or, alternatively, (2)

             154682/2018 CABA, II, JULIO vs. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL                                             Page 1 of 7
             Motion No. 002 003

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  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114                                                                    RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2024

            compelling Old Republic Insurance Company (Old Republic), the insurance carrier for co-

            defendant(s), to defend and indemnify pursuant to the contract entered into between the parties

            (Motion Seq. No. 003). Motion sequence numbers 002 and 003 are consolidated for disposition

            in accordance with the following memorandum.

                   Background

                   The fitness center was located on the NYPH premises, and operated by Optum pursuant

            to a management agreement between Optum and NYPH (management agreement, NYSCEF

            Doc. No. 79). Plaintiff testified at his deposition that he first started using the gym on December

            9, 2015. He noticed a puddle near the water cooler, which he also references as a water fountain,

            located between the work out area and the gym office “a couple of times” prior to the incident

            and saw unidentified gym attendants and an NYPH worker cleaning up the water (Caba EBT tr.,

            NYSCEF Doc. No. 73 at 45-50). He testified that toward the beginning of when he first started

            using the gym, he complained to a gym attendant one time about the accumulation of water

            around the water cooler but did not know the attendant’s name (id. at 61-62).

                   On the day of the accident, plaintiff arrived at the gym “somewhere in the early

            afternoon, maybe mid-morning, perhaps” (Caba EBT tr, NYSCEF Doc. No. 73, at 65). On his

            way to the locker room, he passed but did not notice anything about the water fountain

            approximately three to five feet in distance from him (id. at 68, 71). He left the locker room and

            entered the workout area, and an attendant approached him and said, “hold on” (id. at 69). The

            attendant was cleaning around the water fountain, and “[he] saw her wiping, like wiping water

            below the fountain” (id. at 72).

                   Prior to slipping and falling, plaintiff did not observe whether the water fountain was

            running or not or whether it was leaking (id. at 78-79). After “approximately anywhere from ten

             154682/2018 CABA, II, JULIO vs. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL                      Page 2 of 7
             Motion No. 002 003

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            to 15 minutes” (id. at 78), he recalls “taking a step, falling on the floor and [his] knees coming

            out and being in excruciating pain” (id. at 76). When he touched the ground, which was covered

            by a mat, the ground was wet, and as he “was then now laying in front of the water fountain and

            [he] could see the water fountain dripping” (id. at 74-75).

                   John DeMeo, NYPH’s manager of facilities operations, testified at his deposition that if

            work was needed at the gym, service tickets would be generated through a work order system

            (DeMeo EBT tr., NYSCEF Doc. No. 76 at 27, 37, 45). He did not recall ever receiving any

            complaints about water leaking in the gym or the water coolers (id. at 27, 37, 45). He was

            unaware of any other claims regarding a water leak from the water cooler in the gym (id. at 27).

                   Chris Stothard, the fitness center’s general manager, testified that testified that the gym’s

            maintenance was handled by NYPH, and NYPH Facilities Department would be contacted if

            there were a leak or spill in the gym (Stothard EBT tr., NYSCEF Doc. No. 77 at 18-19). All

            work requests to NYPH were placed through an online portal (id. at 20; DeMeo EBT tr,

            NYSCEF Doc. No. 76 at 18). He was unaware of any prior leaks from the water coolers, and

            was unaware of any prior claims of slips and falls at the gym (Stothard EBT tr, NYSCEF Doc.

            No. 77 at 21, 29, 45) . He never received any complaints about the water coolers (id.). He

            testified that if a gym member was injured, an incident report would be prepared and inputted

            electronically (id. at 21). He had no knowledge of plaintiff’s accident (id. at 22-23).

                   NYPH produced 279 pages of maintenance and repair records for the two months prior to

            the incident for the entire service building where the gym was located. Optum attaches as an

            exhibit the ten pages that refer to the gym, all of which relate to complaints regarding the

            temperature or that the water in the showers was too hot (NYSCEF Doc. No. 78); NYPH

            attaches the entire maintenance and repair records (NYSCEF Doc. No. 99).

             154682/2018 CABA, II, JULIO vs. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL                        Page 3 of 7
             Motion No. 002 003

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  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114                                                                     RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2024

                   Standard of Review

                   Summary judgment is appropriate where there are no disputed material facts (Andre v

            Pomeroy, 35 NY2d 361, 364 [1974]). The moving party must tender sufficient evidentiary proof

            to warrant judgment as a matter of law (Zuckerman v City of N.Y., 49 NY2d 557, 562 [1980]).

            “Failure to make such prima facie showing requires denial of the motion, regardless of the

            sufficiency of the opposing papers” (Alvarez v Prospect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320, 324 [1986]

            [internal citations omitted]). Once a movant has met this burden, “the burden shifts to the

            opposing party to submit proof in admissible form sufficient to create a question of fact requiring

            a trial” (Kershaw v Hospital for Special Surgery, 114 AD3d 75, 82 [1st Dept 2013]). “[I]t is

            insufficient to merely set forth averments of factual or legal conclusions” (Genger v Genger, 123

            AD3d 445, 447 [1st Dept 2014] [internal citation omitted]). Moreover, the reviewing court

            should accept the opposing party's evidence as true (Hotopp Assoc. v Victoria's Secret Stores,

            256 AD2d 285, 286-287 [1st Dept 1998]), and give the opposing party the benefit of all

            reasonable inferences (Negri v Stop & Shop, 65 NY2d 625, 626 [1985]). Therefore, if there is

            any doubt as to the existence of a triable fact, the motion for summary judgment must be denied

            (Rotuba Extruders v Ceppos, 46 NY2d 223, 231 [1978]).

                   Discussion

                   “A defendant who moves for summary judgment in a slip-and-fall action has the initial

            burden of making a prima facie demonstration that it neither created the hazardous condition, nor

            had actual or constructive notice of its existence” (Pfeuffer v New York City Hous. Auth., 93

            AD3d 470, 471 [1st Dept 2012] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]). “A defendant

            may be liable for injuries resulting from a recurrent dangerous condition it creates or leaves

            unattended” (Erikson v J. I. B. Realty Corp., 12 AD3d 344, 345 [2d Dept 2004]). “Even absent

             154682/2018 CABA, II, JULIO vs. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL                       Page 4 of 7
             Motion No. 002 003

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            proof that a defendant has actual knowledge of the condition on the date of the accident, a

            defendant’s actual knowledge of the recurrent condition constitutes constructive notice of each

            specific recurrence of it” (id.)

                    Once defendant has shown, as a matter of law, that it is entitled to summary judgment,

            “the burden shifts to the plaintiff to raise a triable issue of fact as to the creation of the defect or

            notice thereof” (Kalish v HEI Hospitality, LLC, 114 AD3d 444, 445 [1st Dept 2014], internal

            citation omitted). “It is settled that a plaintiff in a slip and fall case must demonstrate that

            defendant had either actual or constructive notice of the hazardous condition” (Chieffet v New

            York City Tr. Auth., 10 AD3d 526, 527 [1st Dept 2004], citing Gordon v Amer. Museum of

            Natural History, 67 NY2d 836, 837 [1986] [additional citations omitted]). To establish a claim

            for constructive notice, a plaintiff must show that the defect was “visible and apparent” and

            “exist[ed] for a sufficient length of time prior to the accident to permit defendant’s employees to

            discover and remedy it” (Gordon, 67 NY2d at 837). Plaintiff must “provid[e] evidence that an

            ongoing and recurring dangerous condition existed in the area of the accident which was

            routinely left unaddressed” by defendants (David v New York City Hous. Auth., 284 AD2d 169,

            171 [1st Dept 2001] [internal quotations marks and citations omitted]). “Evidence of a general

            awareness of debris and spills in [the area] does not require a finding that defendant is deemed to

            have notice of the condition that caused plaintiff to fall” (Torres v New York City Hous. Auth., 85

            AD3d 469, 469 [1st Dept 2011] [internal citations omitted]).

                    Here, defendants are entitled to summary judgment, as by submission of the deposition

            testimony and work orders they established that they did not cause or create the alleged hazard,

            namely water on the floor of the fitness center near the water cooler. The record is devoid of any

            evidence of actual notice. As to constructive notice, the testimony of DeMeo and Stothard on

             154682/2018 CABA, II, JULIO vs. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL                            Page 5 of 7
             Motion No. 002 003

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            behalf of defendants indicates that there were no prior complaints of leaking water from the

            cooler, nor any records of same. Plaintiff offers only conclusory testimony that he overheard

            unnamed persons complaining about the wet floor, which is insufficient to raise a triable issue of

            fact. Moreover, by plaintiff’s own testimony, a fitness center employee was cleaning around the

            water cooler very shortly before he fell (Caba EBT tr, NYSCEF Doc. No. 73 at 69, 71, 78-79).

            This sufficiently establishes that if plaintiff slipped on water leaking from the cooler, such a leak

            had not existed for long enough to charge defendants with constructive notice of it (Rodriguez v

            New York City Tr. Auth., 118 AD3d 618, 618-19 [1st Dept 2014] [“Defendant presented, among

            other things, the affidavit of an employee who averred that one hour prior to plaintiff's accident,

            she cleaned and inspected the stairs where plaintiff fell and “left the ... staircase clean, dry, well

            lit and *619 free of foreign substances”]).

                    Accordingly, it is hereby

                    ORDERED that the motions for summary judgment are granted, and the complaint is

            dismissed; and it is further

                    ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of

            defendants dismissing the case against them, with costs ad disbursements as taxed by the Clerk

            upon submission of an appropriate bill of costs.

             154682/2018 CABA, II, JULIO vs. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL                          Page 6 of 7
             Motion No. 002 003

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  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 114                                                                          RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2024

                   This constitutes the decision and order of the court.

                                                                             ENTER:

                   2/14/2024                                                               $SIG$
                     DATE                                                           LOUIS L. NOCK, J.S.C.
            CHECK ONE:               X   CASE DISPOSED                     NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

            APPLICATION:
                                     X   GRANTED

                                         SETTLE ORDER
                                                             DENIED        GRANTED IN PART

                                                                           SUBMIT ORDER
                                                                                                   □    OTHER

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

            154682/2018 CABA, II, JULIO vs. NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL                           Page 7 of 7
            Motion No. 002 003

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