IN RE: ALISHA B. (2023)

Order, Family Court, New York County (Maria Arias, J.), entered on or about August 10, 2022, which confirmed the Support Magistrate's finding of a willful violation of an order of support, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Respondent father failed to rebut petitioner mother's prima facie evidence of willful violation because he failed to present competent medical evidence that he was unable to perform work of any kind (see Matter of Jennifer D. v. Artise C.J., 154 A.D.3d 578, 578, 62 N.Y.S.3d 346 [1st Dept. 2017]).  His submission of an unaffirmed letter from a doctor was insufficient to establish his inability to work.  In any event, the unaffirmed letter applied only to part of the relevant time period in which the father was not paying any child support.  Nor did the father offer proof of his efforts to find any type of work before his alleged accidents in 2019 and 2020, but rather, blamed his unemployment on multiple factors, including the fact that he was not vaccinated against COVID (see Elba S. v. Sadrud–Din S., 121 A.D.3d 550, 551, 993 N.Y.S.2d 900 [1st Dept. 2014]).

Family Court providently denied the father's request for an adjournment to get a further medical examination (see Matter of Angie N.W. [Melvin A.W.], 107 A.D.3d 907, 908–909, 968 N.Y.S.2d 125 [1st Dept. 2013]).

We have considered and rejected the father's remaining arguments.