| Wainwright v New York City Health & Hosps. Corp. |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 03160 [61 AD3d 851] |
| April 21, 2009 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Margarette Wainwright et al., Respondents, v New YorkCity Health and Hospitals Corporation et al., Appellants. |
—[*1] Ambus-Russell, P.C., Jericho, N.Y. (Gregory T. Ambus of counsel), forrespondents.
In an action to recover damages for negligence, the defendants appeal from an order of theSupreme Court, Queens County (Flug, J.), dated March 16, 2007, as amended March 22, 2007,which granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability.
Ordered that the order, as amended, is affirmed, with costs.
After the plaintiffs' decedent, Ernst Moise, passed away, his body was placed in arefrigerated unit at the Queens General Hospital mortuary for five days. The refrigeratormalfunctioned and the body became badly decomposed. The plaintiffs commenced this action torecover damages for negligence.
In support of their motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability, the plaintiffsestablished that prior to the time the decedent was brought to the hospital mortuary, thedefendants had actual notice that there were "problems with temperature fluctuations" asregistered on the subject refrigerator unit thermometer, and that the defendants failed to identifyand/or correct the malfunction. In opposition thereto, the defendants failed to raise a materialissue of fact.[*2]
Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted theplaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability (see generally Alvarez vProspect Hosp., 68 NY2d 320 [1986]; see also Estate of Scheuer v City of New York, 10 AD3d 272[2004]; Bambrick v Booth Mem. Med. Ctr., 190 AD2d 646 [1993]). Spolzino, J.P.,Santucci, Leventhal and Chambers, JJ., concur.