Constantino v Perma-Ceram of Westchester, Inc.

[*1] Constantino v Perma-Ceram of Westchester, Inc. 2014 NY Slip Op 50804(U) Decided on May 7, 2014 Appellate Term, Second 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 May 7, 2014
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, SECOND DEPARTMENT, 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: : NICOLAI, P.J., IANNACCI and TOLBERT, JJ.
2013-697 W C

Thomas W. Constantino, Jr., Appellant,

against

Perma-Ceram of Westchester, Inc., Respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the City Court of Peekskill, Westchester County (Thomas R. Langan, J.), entered September 14, 2011. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, dismissed the action.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, without costs, and the matter is remitted to the City Court for a new trial.

In this small claims action, plaintiff seeks to recover for damage to his vehicle as a result of a motor vehicle accident allegedly caused by defendant. At a nonjury trial, plaintiff submitted one estimate to prove damages and sought an adjournment to retrieve from his home his second estimate, which estimate, he erroneously believed, had been included in the court's file on a prior court date. The City Court denied plaintiff's request for an adjournment and dismissed the action based on plaintiff's failure to prove damages (see UCCA 1804).

Upon a review of the record, we find that the dismissal of the action did not render substantial justice "between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law" (UCCA 1807). Under the circumstances presented, we are of the opinion that the court should have granted plaintiff an adjournment to afford plaintiff an opportunity to submit his second estimate of the cost to repair his vehicle in order to establish his damages (see UCCA 1804).

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed and the matter is remitted to the City Court for a new trial.

Nicolai, P.J., Iannacci and Tolbert, JJ., concur.

Decision Date: May 07, 2014