A New York jury has rejected a lawsuit against a Long Island school district seeking damages after a woman claimed that she fell and was injured in a school parking lot.
Facts and Allegations
Deborah Biondolillo alleged that she tripped on cracks in the pavement and fell while she was walking in a parking lot of a school on Long Island and injured her ankle, a foot, a knee, and two toes.
Ms. Biondolillo entered bankruptcy and her bankruptcy trustee sued the school district, asserting that it had been negligent in its maintenance of the parking lot and that its negligence had created a dangerous condition that had caused Ms. Biondolillo's fall.
Defense counsel contended that the parking lot's cracks were merely minor defects that could not have caused a fall.
Result
The jury rendered a defense verdict. It found that the school district had been negligent in its maintenance of the parking lot, and it further found that the parking lot's cracks had constituted a dangerous condition, but it also found that the cracks were not a substantial cause of Ms. Biondolillo's fall.
The case is Thaler v. Longwood Central School District, No. 16521/13 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Suffolk Co. April 9, 2019). Attorneys involved include: Ronald T. Levinson; Law Office of David R. Lewis & Associates; for Deborah Biondolillo; James V. Derenze; Congdon, Flaherty, O'Callaghan, Reid, Donlon, Travis & Fishlinger; Uniondale, NY for Longwood Central School District.
Insurance Coverage Law Center Comment
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Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].