Saidoff v. New York City Transit Authority

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed summary judgment dismissing a plaintiff's personal-injury action arising from a stumble while boarding a New York City Transit Authority bus. The court held that, based on the plaintiff's deposition testimony, the defendants had no duty under the circumstances to engage the bus's kneeling device, and the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact.

Holdings

1. The defendants did not owe the plaintiff a duty to engage the bus's kneeling device because her deposition testimony showed that she was able to negotiate the height differential between the curb and the bus's bottom step and merely misjudged its height.
2. Summary judgment dismissing the complaint was proper because the defendants established through the plaintiff's deposition testimony that they did not owe her the asserted duty, and the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the defendants owed the plaintiff a duty to engage the bus's kneeling device under the circumstances.
2. Whether the defendants established entitlement to summary judgment and whether the plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact regarding that duty.

Disposition

affirmed