Most articles discussing the New York Court of Appeals’ decision in Carlos Rodriguez v. City of New York, 31 N.Y.3d 312 (2018), present a view that travels well afield of what the Court actually considered, what the Court actually held, and what relief the Court actually afforded.  In reality, the Court reached a 4-3 determination on a narrow point of law in a general negligence case and held that a plaintiff does not bear the burden of establishing the absence of their own comparative negligence in order to obtain summary judgment.  It remanded for determination of whether or not an issue of fact was presented on the record as to either: (a) the defendant’s negligence or (b) whether the defendant’s negligence was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury.  That is all.

All of the other longstanding rules still apply in order for a party to obtain or defend against summary judgment.  The Court simply eliminated an extra hurdle applicable to plaintiffs and did not drastically change the legal landscape.

Overarching Context