Category Archives: Personal Injury

This was originally published on the SGR Blog.

Was Training Sufficient to Trigger Skier’s Assumption of Risk?

New York State has a statutory “Safety Skiing Code” that allocates training duties and safety obligations between the skier and the facility operator. And, as a recent case illustrates, when an accident ineluctably occurs on a ski slope after a training lesson, the Court must weigh the fact-specific circumstances against those statutorily apportioned duties and obligations.

On January 1, 2014, Daniella Bodden, then 16 years old, was injured while skiing at Holiday Mountain Fun Park, a facility in Sullivan County owned and operated by Holiday Mountain Fun Park Inc. Bodden, a first-time skier, rented equipment from the facility and received a private one-hour lesson from a ski instructor. The lesson took place on a slope referred to as the “bunny hill.” After the instructor showed Bodden the pizza wedge technique for turning and stopping, she and the instructor went down the bunny hill together five or six times. By that point, the instructor felt that Bodden was ready to progress to one of the designated trails known as Benson’s Glade. Although Bodden expressed some concern, the instructor assured both Bodden and her mother, Lola Bernard, that Bodden was ready and that the instructor would be with Bodden the entire time. Coming down Benson’s Glade, Bodden gained too much speed and “lost control,” eventually crashing into an orange safety fence at the base of the trail, injuring herself.

This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.

Customer Assaulted in Spontaneous Imbroglio

In a supermarket on a Sunday afternoon, a shopper is hit in the face by a can of food thrown in the course of a sudden dispute between two other customers. Was the store liable to the innocent victim for negligence in failing to thwart the altercation?

Lydia Arroyo claimed that, while shopping at an International Compare Food International store, she was struck in the face by a can thrown by Johan Gonzalez, a customer in the store. The store’s negligence allegedly caused her to sustain serious injuries. International moved for summary judgment dismissing Arroyo’s claims.

This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that some lawsuits never should have been filed. A recent case makes that point.

Unidentified parents, on behalf of themselves and their child (let’s call them the “Walkers”), brought a premises liability action against New York State. They sought damages for injuries sustained when they were struck by a falling tree at Letchworth State Park — and alleged that the State was negligent in failing to inspect the park’s trees and protect visitors to the park from injury.

The Court of Claims denied the Walkers’ motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability and granted the State’s cross motion for summary judgment dismissing the claim. The Walkers appealed.

This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.

A man enters a bar after having a few beers down the block. Not clear what caused or who initiated an encounter after he was served with the wrong drink—but a bartender hit him with a beer bottle causing injuries. The customer sued the bar for negligent hiring, training and supervision. Did the employee have dangerous propensities?

The action arose out of an incident that occurred on June 3, 2017, at approximately 2:30 a.m., at Bar Great Harry on Smith Street in Brooklyn. At that time and place, a bar back by the name of Carlos Vera, an employee of the Bar, struck Grossman in the face with a bottle. Grossman alleged that the Bar was negligent in failing to prevent the incident; in failing to call the police and ambulance after he was attacked; in failing to exercise reasonable care in hiring, training and supervision of Vera and other employees; and of failing to exercise reasonable care in the ownership, operation, management, maintenance, supervision and control of the pub. Grossman also claimed that the Bar was allowed to become disorderly in violation of Section 106 of the Alcohol Beverage Control Law.

This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.

On August 27, 2015, Theodore Comando went to a  deli on the Upper West Side, owned by C.P. Yang Corp, to purchase a cup of coffee. He walked to the counter and lifted a coffee pot from the coffee burner. While lifting the pot, the bottom of the pot fell out, causing his legs and feet to be scalded with second degree burns.

Countering Comando’s version of the facts, the owner of the store, Keumyul Yang, stated in deposition testimony that he was not present during the incident but was told by his employee, Domingo Ogacion, that two coffee pots were involved, and that Comando was holding the right coffee pot and hit the pot into the left coffee pot, causing a hole in the side of the coffee pot that he was holding. However, when was deposed separately, Ogacion stated that Comando was holding the left coffee pot and the bottom fell out.