Driscoll v Long Is. Lubrications, Inc
Annotate this CaseDecided on March 28, 2007
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
APPELLATE TERM: 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: : McCABE, J.P., TANENBAUM and LIPPMAN, JJ
2006-133 N C.
Eileen M. Driscoll, Appellant,
against
Long Island Lubrications, Inc. d/b/a INDY 3000 FAST LUBE/INDY FAST LUBE, Respondent.
Appeal from a judgment of the District Court of Nassau County, Fourth District (Alfred D Cooper, Sr., J.), entered June 15, 2005. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, dismissed the action.
Judgment reversed without costs and judgment directed to be entered in the court below in favor of plaintiff in the principal sum of $4,379.58.
Plaintiff commenced the instant small claims action to recover damages from defendant, alleging that defendant "improperly performed oil change and/or lube causing oil to escape from vehicle and engine to be irreparably damaged." It is undisputed that on the morning of June 26, 2004, defendant performed an oil change
and filter change on plaintiff's vehicle, at its shop in Massapequa. The vehicle, a 2003 Hyundai Elantra, was approximately 15 months old, and had less than 30,000 miles on it. That evening, after plaintiff drove it to Mount Kisco and then to Ossining, a distance of approximately 130 miles, the engine failed. The cause of the engine failure was later determined by plaintiff's mechanic to have resulted from an oil leak.
After a nonjury trial, at which both parties had experts testify regarding their opinions as to the cause of the oil leak, the court determined that the loss of oil was due to defendant's improper installation of an oil filter on the engine, which was a direct cause of the engine failure. It also determined, however, that "the failure of the vehicle's oil and/or engine light to indicate [*2]low or no oil in the engine was the proximate cause of the damages," and that plaintiff was therefore not entitled to recover since either the oil and/or engine lights were malfunctioning or they were disregarded by plaintiff.
Our review is limited to determining whether substantial justice was done "according to the rules and principles of substantive law" (UDCA 1807), and reversal is not warranted absent a showing that there is no support in the record for the trial court's conclusions or that they are otherwise so clearly erroneous as to deny substantial justice (see Payne v Biglin, 2 Misc 3d 127[A], 2003 NY Slip Op 51694[U] [App Term, 9th & 10th Jud Dists]). In our opinion, it was appropriate for the court below to credit the testimony of plaintiff's expert to the effect that the cause of the engine damage in plaintiff's vehicle was the loss of oil due to defendant's negligent installation of the oil filter. There is no basis for this court to disturb that finding, and there is ample support in the record for that determination. However, there is no basis in the record for the court's subsequent conclusion that it was the failure of plaintiff's vehicle's oil and/or engine light which was the proximate cause of damage to plaintiff's engine. This conclusion is not supported by the trial evidence. Indeed, neither of the experts testified to that effect. Although one expert stated that a defective sensor might result in those lights not going on, there was no proof offered, either by way of evidentiary documentation or trial testimony, that this occurred.
There was no support in the record for the court's dismissal. The proof established that defendant's negligent installation of the oil filter was a proximate cause of the engine failure. Accordingly, the judgment dismissing the action should be reversed and judgment should be entered in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $4,379.58.
McCabe, J.P., Tanenbaum and Lippman, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: March 28, 2007
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