Narvisa Marine, Appellant, v Montefiore Health Systems, Inc., Doing Business as Marble Hill Family Practice, et al., Defendants, and Command Security Corporation, Respondent.
2015 NY Slip Op 04725
Appellate Division, First Department
June 4, 2015
129 AD3d 428
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Gallo Vitucci Klar, LLP, New York (Cheryl I. Chan of counsel), for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Betty Owen Stinson, J.), entered on or about September 8, 2014, which denied plaintiff‘s motion for a default judgment against defendant Command Security Corporation (Command), and granted Command‘s cross motion to compel plaintiff to accept its answer, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The court properly denied plaintiff‘s motion for a default judgment and directed plaintiff to accept defendant Command‘s answer. Command offered a reasonable excuse for its delay in answering—confusion and inadvertence—which, although not particularly compelling, is sufficient under the circumstances of this case. Moreover, the delay was relatively short, plaintiff suffered no prejudice, there is no evidence of willfulness and there is a strong public policy in favor of resolving cases on the merits (see Chevalier v 368 E. 148th St. Assoc., LLC, 80 AD3d 411, 413 [1st Dept 2011]); Lamar v City of New York, 68 AD3d 449 [1st Dept 2009]).