Category: Firm News

Southold Park District not liable. The firm was successful in dismissing Plaintiff’s Complaint against the Southold Park District on a pre-discovery motion for summary judgment on the issue of ownership, maintenance and control. Plaintiff had fallen on a set of stairs leading down to a beach on the Long Island Sound and sustained a torn quadriceps muscle which required surgery.

The firm successfully handled a Kings County personal injury action involving a dog bite to a three year old child. The firm’s motion for summary judgment was granted as the dog did not display any prior vicious propensities.

Homeowners don’t have to apologize for a shiny floor. DSB successfully moved to have Plaintiff’s Complaint against a Suffolk County homeowner dismissed. The Plaintiff complained that he had tripped and fallen on an interior staircase of the defendant’s home, resulting in several rib fractures. Plaintiff alleged that the polyurethane finish on the steps and/or a wet, slippery substance caused his fall. The court granted the firm’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the Complaint, finding there was no evidence that there was a negligent application of floor wax or polish, or that the defendant had notice of any dangerous condition on the stairs.

DSB was successful in dismissing plaintiff’s Complaint against the defendant on a pre-discovery motion to dismiss. In this New York County action, plaintiff allegedly sustained property damage when a pipe burst in the defendant’s apartment, located immediately above the plaintiff’s apartment. The Court granted the firm’s motion to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the plaintiff was not a third-party beneficiary to the lease agreement between the defendant and the property owner.

The firm successfully defended a discrimination lawsuit filed in the New York State Division of Human Rights against a local school district by a terminated social worker. The social worker was terminated for cause, but claimed it was based on discriminatory animus of his race and gender. In October, 2017 the suit was dismissed when the Division found that the claimant had failed to establish his termination was the result of discriminatory animus.

The firm prevailed in its summary judgment motion seeking dismissal of a discrimination lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York. The lawsuit, brought by a custodian of a local school district, alleged that his termination was the result of discrimination animus by the District on the basis of his race. In granting the motion, Judge Arthur D. Spatt found that the District had a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for terminating the plaintiff and dismissed the case in its entirety.