The court providently exercised its broad discretion in denying the plaintiff's request for further discovery. The plaintiff failed to cite any specific misconduct by the defendants' counsel at the deposition of the building superintendent, and the Appellate Division's review of the transcript does not support the claim of a persistent pattern of frivolous, repetitive, or meritless conduct by the defendants' counsel sufficient to support sanctions. The Appellate Division notes that some objections were not well founded, but that the witness was generally permitted to answer the questions. In addition, many of the questions to which there were objections were vague or improper in other respects. The relevancy of the pictures and video in the record on appeal is unclear since no foundation was provided. The apparent conflict between the affidavit of the defendant's CEO and the testimony of the building superintendent does not warrant re-opening discovery, since the plaintiff filed a note of issue and certificate of readiness certifying that discovery was complete. In any event, the plaintiff had the opportunity to question the superintendent regarding the existence of records concerning mopping activities and complaints of a wet condition on the stairs. The plaintiff also failed to demonstrate that the defendants' failure to produce agreements between them violated outstanding court orders in that there is nothing in the record to indicate that the agreements were the subject of discovery requests that were not complied with by defendants.
Flowers v. Cora Realty Co. LLC, NY Slip Op 00029 (1st Dep't January 5, 2023)
