| Thomas v City of New York |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 07035 [99 AD3d 580] |
| October 18, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Margaret Thomas et al., Appellants-Respondents, v City ofNew York et al., Respondents-Appellants, et al., Defendant. |
—[*1] Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Donna B. Morris of counsel), for theCity of New York and New York City Police Department, respondents-appellants. Baker, McEvoy, Morrissey & Moskovits, P.C., New York (Stacy R. Seldin of counsel), forAhmad Aftab, respondent-appellant.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Lucindo Suarez, J.), entered August 25, 2010, whichgranted the motion of defendant Aftab and the cross motion of defendants the City of New Yorkand New York City Police Department for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as toplaintiff Christal Berkeley, based on the failure to establish a serious injury within the meaning ofInsurance Law § 5102 (d), and as to plaintiff Margaret Thomas only to the extent ofdismissing her 90/180-day claim, unanimously modified, on the law, to grant the motion andcross motion for summary judgment dismissing Thomas's remaining serious injury claims, andotherwise affirmed, without costs.
Defendants made a prima facie showing of their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law,and plaintiffs failed to raise a triable issue of fact (see Zuckerman v City of New York,49 NY2d 557, 562 [1980]).
With respect to plaintiff Thomas, defendants submitted evidence showing that Thomas's leftknee injuries preexisted the subject accident, were degenerative in nature, and could not beattributed to the accident (see Pines vLopez, 88 AD3d 545, 545 [1st Dept 2011]). Although Thomas's treating physicianfound a limitation in the range of motion of her left knee seven years after the accident, he failedto explain why Thomas had full range of motion in her left knee shortly after the accident.Accordingly, the physician's report failed to raise an issue of fact as to Thomas's claims ofserious injury to the left knee (seeJno-Baptiste v Buckley, 82 AD3d 578, 578-579 [1st Dept 2011]), including her claimthat the accident aggravated a preexisting injury to the knee (see also Suarez v Abe, 4 AD3d 288 [1st Dept 2004]). Further, anorthopedic surgeon found that Thomas had full range of motion in her cervical spine (Mitrotti v Elia, 91 AD3d 449,449-450 [1st Dept 2012]), and there was no positive MRI report or other objective medical proof[*2]of injury to the spine (see Madera v Gressey, 84 AD3d 460, 460 [1st Dept 2011]).
With regard to plaintiff Berkeley, defendants submitted evidence showing that Berkeley'sclaimed right ankle injuries preexisted the accident, and that she had normal ranges of motion inthe spine and knees. Although Berkeley's treating physician found minor limitations in the rangeof motion of her cervical and lumbar spines, Berkeley failed to submit any objective medicalproof of these injuries, or of injury to her right ankle (see Madera, 84 AD3d at 460).Further, her physician found that she had not sustained any injury to the left knee, and that shehad full range of motion in the right knee a few months after the accident. That her physicianfound limitations in the range of motion of her right knee seven years after the accident isinsufficient to raise an issue of fact, since he failed to explain the loss in range of motion (seeJno-Baptiste, 82 AD3d at 578-579).
Defendants met their burden of showing that neither plaintiff sustained a serious injury to thehead by submitting Thomas's testimony that no objective tests were performed on her head andthat she was never treated for head injuries, and by submitting Berkeley's testimony that a doctorhad never advised her that she had sustained a concussion. In light of plaintiffs' testimony,defendants were not obligated to present medical evidence on the issue, and plaintiffs failed toraise a triable issue of fact in opposition.
Plaintiffs' 90/180-day claims were properly dismissed, since Thomas testified that she hadreturned to work on "limited light duty" within two weeks of the accident, and Berkeley testifiedthat she had returned to work approximately 75 days after the accident (see Martin v Portexit Corp., 98 AD3d63, 68 [1st Dept 2012]; see alsoByong Yol Yi v Canela, 70 AD3d 584, 585 [1st Dept 2010]). Concur—Friedman,J.P., Moskowitz, Freedman, Richter and Abdus-Salaam, JJ.