S.M. v. City of New York

── S.M. v. City of New York ── Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York Date: May 21, 2026 Category: General <div>S.M. v City of New York - 2026 NY Slip Op 03248 <div> skip to main content </div> <div> <p>It appears you are using Adblock. Please disable Adblock to best experience our website.</p> </div> <div> <header> <div> <img src="/reporter/images/nys-logo-white.svg" alt=""> </div> <div> <span title="Law Reporting Bureau Home Page">Law Reporting <br>Bureau <span></span></span> <span>Thomas J.K. Smith, State Reporter</span> <nav> Court Decisions Resources About </nav> </div> <div> <img src="/reporter/images/lrb-seal.png" alt=""> </div> </header> </div> <nav> <ol> <li>Home</li> <li>All Court Decisions</li> <li>Decisions</li> </ol> </nav> <div> <div> <h1>S.M. v City of New York</h1> <p>2026 NY Slip Op 03248</p> <p>May 21, 2026</p> <p>Appellate Division, First Department</p> <p>Renwick, P.J.</p> <p>Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.</p> <p>This decision is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.</p> </div> <div> <p>S.M. etc. et al, Plaintiffs-Appellants,</p> <p>v</p> <p>City of New York et al., Defendants, New York City Health + Hospitals/Lincoln Medical Center, Defendant-Respondent.</p> </div> <p>Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Judicial Department</p> <p>Decided and Entered: May 21, 2026</p> <p>Index No. 27844/20|Appeal No. 5927|Case No. 2024-03494|</p> <p>Dianne T. Renwick</p> <p>Tanya R. Kennedy Julio Rodriguez III Bahaati E. Pitt-Burke Kelly O'Neill Levy</p> <div> <p>Pollack, Pollack, Isaac &amp; DeCicco, LLP, New York (Brian J. Isaac and Jillian Rosen of counsel), for appellants.</p> <p>Muriel Goode-Trufant, Corporation Counsel, New York (Diana Lawless and Rebecca L. Visgaitis of counsel), for respondent</p> </div> <p> </p><p>Plaintiffs appeal from the order of Supreme Court, Bronx County (Alicia Gerez, J.), entered on or about May 14, 2024, which denied their motion for leave to renew their cross-motion pursuant to CPLR 3101(a) and Mental Hygiene Law § 33.13(c)(1) to compel disclosure of medical, psychiatric, and mental health records of defendant Shanice Martin maintained by defendant New York City Health + Hospitals/Lincoln Medical Center. </p> <p></p>Renwick, P.J.<p></p> <span>[*1]</span> <p>This action arises from a tragic act that occurred on April 27, 2019, when defendant Shanice Martin (Martin) stabbed her two children, resulting in the death of one child and injury to the other, who survived. In 2020, the infant plaintiff and her father commenced this personal injury action against New York City Health + Hospital Corporation/Lincoln Medical Center (NYCHH or defendant), among others, alleging that NYCHH's employees negligently treated Martin when she presented to Lincoln Hospital on April 27, 2019, shortly before the stabbing. They allege that Martin had a history of mental illness for which she had been treated by NYCHH on "scores of previous occasions," and that NYCHH failed to detain Martin, call a report to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, or "take any other action to protect" the infant plaintiff.</p> <p>In this action, plaintiffs also sued Martin, but she is, in effect, a nonparty to the action because she defaulted, and plaintiffs failed to procure a default judgment against her. Martin is currently incarcerated pursuant to criminal charges instituted against her regarding the same events that precipitated this civil action. Plaintiffs allege they have been unable to procure Martin's medical records from Lincoln Hospital as she has not waived the confidentiality of the records, she is unable or unwilling to do so, and NYCHH refuses to provide the medical records, asserting that the physician-patient and related privileges prevent it