In Kinan v. Deputy Kyle Esposito, et al., a New York railroad passenger injury case, LCBF successfully obtained summary judgment dismissing the complaint in its entirety for plaintiff’s failure to establish medical causation or an actionable injury.
The action arose from a train striking a Dutchess County Sheriff’s SUV fouling the railroad’s right-of-way. Plaintiff, a passenger on the train, alleged various physical and psychological injuries despite having been asleep at the time of the impact and being unable to identify how he was injured. LCBF filed for summary judgment, arguing that the record established that plaintiff sought no contemporaneous medical treatment, sustained no objective trauma, and underwent multiple post-incident radiological studies that showed no acute injury. LCBF’s arguments were bolstered by expert opinion concerning the subjective nature of the plaintiff’s injury complaints as well as CCTV footage that contradicted the plaintiff’s description of the mechanism of injury. LCBF also argued that, even if there was any causation, the conduct of the Dutchess County Sheriff was the sole proximate cause of the accident.
The Court agreed and held that plaintiff’s claims failed as a matter of law because he could not demonstrate that the incident caused any injury. Having dismissed the case on medical causation grounds, the Court declined to reach a decision on the liability arguments. The LCBF team was headed by Philip DiBerardino and Matthew Choi.