- Attorneys Bryan J. Mazzola and Jacqueline L. Aiello obtained summary judgment in favor of a Condo’s former board president dismissing a complaint alleging a breach of fiduciary duty which was commenced by unit owners relating to a prior litigation. Specifically, at the time the defendant was the Condo’s Board president, the Board had commenced suit against the unit owners for installing an HVAC system without the Board’s approval. The Condo prevailed in that action and the unit owners later commenced suit against the Board president, claiming that he improperly and without authorization caused the first suit to be filed against them. In dismissing the case and awarding summary judgment, the Court found that the Firm demonstrated that the claim was time barred and that the unit owners could not demonstrate they suffered damages given the Court’s prior ruling that the unit owners improperly installed their HVAC system without Board approval.
- Attorneys Bryan J. Mazzola and Jacqueline L. Aiello won an appeal in New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, from an order improperly denying summary judgment to the defendants despite there being no factual disputes to be determined at trial. Unit owners of an HOA commenced suit against the HOA and its individual board members for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and punitive damages based on the HOA’s decision to fine the unit owners for failing to remediate an overgrowth of their bamboo onto the HOA’s common areas and their neighbors’ properties. Despite the HOA’s authority to take this action per its governing documents, the unit owners argued that the HOA should have remediated the bamboo and charged the unit owners back for the costs and that the defendants singled them out by refusing to take this course of action. The Second Department reversed the motion court and dismissed the complaint in its entirety, holding that: the HOA acted within the scope of its authority under the governing documents in fining the unit owners for failing to remediate the bamboo and that its decision was protected by the business judgment rule; the defendant did not single out the unit owners by taking this course of action; and that there was no basis for individual liability or punitive damages.
- Attorneys Bryan J. Mazzola and Jacqueline L. Aiello successfully defeated a motion for a preliminary injunction by a corporation claiming to own a unit within an HOA and seeking to gain access to the unit. The Firm demonstrated that the plaintiff-corporation did not receive good title to the unit as it purchased the unit from an individual who was not the record owner, that the HOA voted to void the unit’s transfer to the plaintiff based on the significant common charge arrears based on its authority within the governing documents and that a preliminary injunction granting plaintiff access to the unit would drastically change the status quo and further complicate the impending foreclosure on the unit.
- Attorneys Bryan J. Mazzola and Jacqueline L. Aiello obtained a dismissal of a discrimination complaint brought by a former employee of a condominium apartment building who contended he had been discriminated against and terminated due to his marital status, age and ethnicity. In administrative proceedings before the New York State Division of Human Rights, the Firm demonstrated, on behalf of the employer, that the discipline and subsequent termination were attributable to the employee’s poor work performance, including his continued breaches of the Condo’s security protocols, not his membership in a protected class. The Firm also demonstrated that the employee was barred from challenging his termination as an arbitrator already determined that it was proper. The agency dismissed the complaint finding no causal nexus between the discipline/termination and the employee’s marital status, age or national origin, with a finding of “No Probable Cause”.
- Attorneys Bryan J. Mazzola and Jacqueline L. Aiello won dismissal of a discrimination complaint brought by a former employee of a condominium apartment building who contended he had been discriminated against and terminated due to his age and ethnicity. In administrative proceedings before the New York State Division of Human Rights, the Firm demonstrated, on behalf of the employer, that the discipline and subsequent termination were attributable to the employee’s poor work performance, including his continued breaches of the Condo’s security protocols, not his membership in a protected class. Moreover, the Firm demonstrated that the employee was barred from challenging his termination as an arbitrator already determined that it was proper. The agency dismissed the complaint finding no causal nexus between the discipline/termination and the employee’s age or national origin, with a finding of “No Probable Cause”.
- We are proud to announce that Jennifer L. Stewart and Jacqueline L. Aiello have been given the distinct honor of being selected and listed in the 2017 Super Lawyers – New York Metro – Rising Stars list, a list limited to no more than 2.5% of the attorneys in the state.
- Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multi-phase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys that the Firm is proud to have two of its own exceptional attorneys included in.
- New York attorneys Gary S. Ehrlich and Jennifer L. Stewart established a cooperative apartment corporation’s right to exclusive use and possession of a setback roof, prevailing over a shareholder claiming that, since he could climb out his window and access it, and had been doing so for years, he had the right to use the setback roof as though it were a terrace. The shareholder had placed outdoor furniture, planters and other decorations on the roof and hosted parties there, despite numerous cease and desist notices from the cooperative. The court’s order on summary judgment, however, provided that the cooperative has right, title and interest to the setback portion of the roof and the shareholder does not have a right to occupy, use or enjoy the roof, and enjoining the shareholder and his guest from occupying or using the roof.
