Early one morning, Paul Murphy was attacked by another man in a Queens subway station.
While he was being punched and kicked by an assailant for several minutes, directly in front of a manned attendant's booth, Paul made eye contact with a transit employee who allegedly ignored Paul's requests for assistance.
When Murphy sued the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) for damages (due to the attendant's inaction), the Queens County Supreme Court dismissed the case.
While NYCTA is only obligated to protect passengers from an assault when a "special relationship" exists, the Appellate Division, Second Department, thought an exception to that rule might apply here because the employee allegedly witnessed the attack from a "position of safety," yet failed to call for help in a timely manner.
Does that make the AD2 a good samaritan?
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Murphy v. New York City Transit Authority