On December 18, 2023, Andrew T. Sheeley, Esq. and Sooin (Anne) Lee, Esq. obtained a unanimous defense verdict on behalf of a nursing home client following a 2 week jury trial in Supreme Court, New York County, before The Honorable Justice Schlomo Hagler.

Plaintiff, a then 68-year-old short term care resident, alleged she sustained prolonged exposure to toxic substances from materials used during a major construction and renovation of the facility while the resident was admitted to the facility in December 2014.  Plaintiff claimed the exposure to the materials caused acute and chronic respiratory disease.  Plaintiff brought claims for negligence and violations of NYS Public Health Law 2801-d.

The defense established–through medical records and expert testimony–that the plaintiff’s respiratory injuries were not caused by inhalation of airborne toxic substances but rather the patient’s underlying and pre-existing pulmonary disease.  At the close of plaintiff’s case, the Court granted defendant’s motion for directed verdict on the negligence claim finding that plaintiff’s experts failed to establish general and specific causation due to the absence of generally accepted methods for testing and measuring the concentration of the toxic materials and the duration of exposure.  The Court allowed plaintiff’s statutory claims under Public Health Law 2801-d to go to the jury.

With respect to the Public Health Law 2801-d cause of actions, the defense successfully convinced the jury that defendant did not deprive the resident of various rights based on Federal and State law.  The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict.