DECISION & ORDER Upon the papers filed in support of the application and the papers filed in opposition thereto, and after hearing oral arguments, it is ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability is granted, without opposition. ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of serious injury threshold is hereby granted. The instant action is for personal injuries sustained by the thirteen-year-old plaintiff in a motor vehicle accident on May 29, 2019. The infant plaintiff was a back-seat passenger in a vehicle owned by the Defendant Stephanie Gillett and operated by Defendant Nicholas Gonzalez. The vehicle collided with another vehicle owned by Stephen Aliberti and operated by Marissa Aliberti. The infant plaintiff suffered a laceration to her face requiring 13 stitches. Plaintiff filed this motion seeking (1) summary judgment on the issue of liability, and (2) summary judgment on the issue of a serious injury, as defined by §5102 of the Insurance Law. There has been no opposition submitted by the Defendants as to the issue of liability. Insurance Law of the State of New York §5102(d) states “‘Serious injury’ means a personal injury which results in death; dismemberment; serious disfigurement; a fracture; loss of a fetus; permanent loss of use of body organ, member function or system; permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; significant limitation of use of a body function or system; or a medically determined injury or impairment or a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities for not less than ninety days during the one hundred eighty days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment.” To establish a “significant disfigurement” within the meaning of the Insurance Law, a plaintiff must demonstrate that a reasonable person viewing the scar or other disfigurement attributable to the accident would regard such condition as unattractive, objectionable, or as the subject of pity or scorn. See Sidibe v. Cordero, 79 AD3d 536 [1st Dept. 2010]; Hutchinson v. Beth Cab Corp., 207 AD2d 282 [1st Dept. 1994]. Based upon the records submitted, the affidavit of the infant plaintiff, and after a review of the photographs of the infant plaintiff’s injury, there are no triable issues of fact. Per the photograph submitted, the infant plaintiff has a 5 cm scar on her forehead to her eye. Her affidavit states that her scar causes her “great embarrassment and ridicule.” It is clear to this Court that the injury sustained by the infant plaintiff rises to the level of a significant or serious disfigurement as described in the Insurance Law. Accordingly, summary judgment on the issue of liability is granted, without opposition, and summary judgment on the issue of serious injury threshold is granted, for the reasons set forth above. This constitutes the Decision and Order of this Court. Dated: March 5, 2021
