In Kalafatis v. Royal Waste Management, the plaintiff was a passenger in a stolen vehicle that ran a red light and collided with the co-defendant’s truck. The co-defendant’s motion for summary judgment was granted. The plaintiff appealed and moved to re-argue.

The lower court granted the plaintiff’s motion to reargue and, accordingly, the plaintiff never perfected his appeal. The plaintiff’s motion to reargue was heard and the court upheld its prior decision. Once again, the plaintiff appealed.

The Second Department stated that, as a general rule, it does not consider issues on a subsequent appeal that could have been or were raised in an earlier appeal. Nevertheless, the Court used its inherent jurisdiction and discretion and agreed to hear this appeal. Unfortunately for the plaintiff, the lower court’s prior decision was, once again, upheld.

Thanks to Georgia Stagias for this post.

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