Summary Judgment Dismissal

Associate Desiree Berger recently obtained summary judgment dismissal of the plaintiff’s complaint as well as all cross-claims alleged by the co-defendant property owner on behalf of an elevator maintenance company in Bronx County Supreme Court. Plaintiff alleged that the defendant elevator service company was negligent in failing to inspect, repair, properly maintain, manage and control the elevator in a reasonable and safe manner. Plaintiff’s motion was supported by an affidavit from an elevator consultant who argued that the elevator maintenance and repair logs showed old, frayed, or otherwise improperly maintained electrical wiring. We argued that the elevator maintenance company had a limited maintenance agreement, with no duty to upgrade or replace any obsolete or antiquated design or components, and therefore, such a duty remained with the property owner. Our motion was supported by an affidavit from an expert elevator engineer, who established that no failure to maintain the elevator caused the subject accident. The Court agreed with our position and found that the elevator could not have acted in the manner described by plaintiff, was properly inspected and maintained, and the elevator company lacked actual or constructive notice of the allegedly hazardous condition of the elevator.