New York, NY 

Associate Lora H. Gleicher won a jury trial in a Bronx County Civil Court matter.  In Mena v. 1944 Holding Ltd., et al., plaintiff allegedly tripped and fell as she was descending an interior staircase in a building that the defendant owned and managed. Plaintiff claimed that prior to her fall, she had made numerous complaints to the building superintendent about an allegedly defective stair, but that the superintendent never remedied the problem. At the time of the trial, the superintendent was no longer working for the building and was unable to be located. As such, the defendants were unable to produce a witness at trial.

At trial, plaintiff had difficulty telling the truth, testifying on direct that (1) she told the superintendent about the alleged defect six months prior to her accident; (2) she fell on the second step; (3) she sought medical attention, immediately; and, (4) she did not return to work following the accident. On cross-examination, we attacked plaintiff’s credibility and confronted her with her deposition testimony, wherein she stated: (1) she allegedly told the super about the alleged defect only several weeks before her accident – not six months; (2) she fell on the third step – not the second; (3) she sought medical attention 8 days after her accident; and,(4) she returned to work for approximately 5 days after her accident. Plaintiff’s credibility was further destroyed when she denied ever filing a claim for personal injuries, despite having filed a claim related to 9/11 clean.

Ultimately plaintiff’s credibility was shattered, and despite not having a defense witness, after a mere 25 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned with a defense verdict.