Courtney v Beth Abraham Health Servs.

[*1] Courtney v Beth Abraham Health Servs. 2014 NY Slip Op 51405(U) Decided on September 22, 2014 Appellate Term, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on September 22, 2014
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT
PRESENT: Shulman, J.P., Hunter, Jr., Ling-Cohan, JJ.
570393/14

Alejandro Courtney, Plaintiff-Respondent, -

against

Beth Abraham Health Services, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant appeals from an order of the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Anthony Cannataro, J.), entered February 27, 2014, which denied its motion for summary judgment dismissing the action.

Per Curiam.

Order (Anthony Cannataro, J.), entered February 27, 2014, affirmed, without costs.

This small claims action, seeking recovery in negligence for the alleged loss of and damage to plaintiff's personal effects while he was a residential patient in defendant's healthcare facility, is not ripe for summary dismissal. Defendant failed to demonstrate, at this juncture, that plaintiff's claim — including his assertion that defendant breached its statutory duty to provide plaintiff with "security in storing personal possessions" (Public Health Law § 2803-c[3][f]) is untimely or without merit. Pre-trial motion practice is generally unavailable in Small Claims Court (see Friedman v Seward Park Hous. Corp., 167 Misc 2d 57, 58 [1995]), and no basis is shown here to deviate from that proposition.

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.

I concurI concurI concur
Decision Date: September 22, 2014