861 N.Y.S.2d 731 | N.Y. App. Div. | 2008
In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for wrongful death, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (R. Doyle, J.), dated February 13, 2007, which granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, and the defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint is denied.
On February 14, 2003 the plaintiffs decedent was a passenger in an automobile involved in an accident with an automobile owned by the defendant Mary Alison Makarczuk and operated by the defendant Meghan Makarczuk. The decedent died three weeks later.
The plaintiff, who was the decedent’s husband and is the administrator of the decedent’s estate, subsequently commenced this action, inter alia, to recover damages for wrongful death. In relevant part, the plaintiff alleged that the accident was caused by the defendants’ negligence, that the accident aggravated a pre-existing condition of the decedent’s, and that the aggravation of the pre-existing condition caused the decedent’s death.
Following discovery, the defendants moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, essentially contending that the accident did not aggravate the decedent’s pre-existing condition, and hence, cause the decedent’s death. The Supreme Court granted the motion. We reverse.
To succeed on a cause of action to recover damages for wrongful death, the decedent’s personal representative must estab