In A* v. New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), RA filed suit after her vehicle was allegedly hit by a vehicle owned by the NYCTA and operated by its employee.
The defendants later moved to dismiss the complaint on two grounds: lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a cause of action. While the Queens County Supreme Court found that personal jurisdiction had technically not been established—since A* failed to prove proper service—it held that the NYCTA had waived this defense by not raising it within 60 days of answering the complaint, as required by CPLR 3211(e).
However, the judge granted dismissal under CPLR 3211(a)(7) for failure to state a cause of action. The fatal flaw was the plaintiff’s failure to plead compliance with Public Authorities Law § 1212(1) -- which requires that a complaint against the NYCTA must allege that a written demand or claim was presented to the authority and that at least 30 days had passed without resolution. A*'s complaint lacked this statutory allegation, and she had not sought leave to amend it.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed, emphasizing that the omission of this statutory prerequisite rendered the complaint legally insufficient.
When you skip a statute, the law skips you ....
# # #
DECISION