The Second Department affirmed the dismissal of the complaint as against defendant Cushman & Wakefield, in Vignapiano v. Herbert Construction, which was decided on December 6, 2007. The court began by noting that a contractual obligation, standing alone, will generally not give rise to tort liability in favor of a third party. Here, Cushman demonstrated that its management contract with the predecessor of plaintiff's employer did not give rise to a duty of care to plaintiff. In opposition, plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue as to whether she detrimentally relied on Cushman's continued performance of its duties. As an example, at deposition, plaintiff testified that, two months before the accident, she called building management to express concern that the shelves in her office were slanted downward on the ends, and in response, someone came to inspect the shelves. However, plaintiff only speculates that this inspector was a Cushman employee, as opposed to an employee of her employer's in-house property management department. Further, said the court, even if the inspector were a Cushman employee, plaintiff did not raise a triable issue as to whether Cushman's alleged nonfeasance in failing to discover the alleged defect in the shelves launched a force or instrument of harm, such that Cushman might be liable. Finally, the court said that plaintiff did not raise a triable issue as to whether Cushman entirely displaced the duty of plaintiff's employer to maintain the premises safely. Why? Her employer maintained an in-house property management department, and the management contract provided that plaintiff's employer retained substantial control over the management and operation of the premises.