PERSAUD v. TRANSDEV SERVICES INC (2019)

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Donald A. Miles, J.), entered on or about May 8, 2018, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, denied defendants' motion pursuant to CPLR 504(1) for a change of venue from Bronx County to Nassau County, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

CPLR 504(1) provides, in pertinent part, that the place of trial of an action against a county shall be in that county.  As Nassau County is not a named defendant, and defendants are not officers of Nassau County and were not named in a representative capacity, defendants' motion pursuant to CPLR 504(1) for a change of venue from Bronx County to Nassau County was properly denied (see Swainson v. Clee, 261 A.D.2d 301, 708 N.Y.S.2d 54 [1st Dept. 1999];  Theofanis v. Liberty Lines Tr., 266 A.D.2d 385, 697 N.Y.S.2d 533 [2d Dept. 1999];  Beaufort v. Liberty Lines Tr., 270 A.D.2d 297, 704 N.Y.S.2d 284 [2d Dept. 2000]).  CPLR 504(1) exists for the benefit of a county or other government entity named as a defendant, not for the benefit of individual litigants such as the instant defendants (Swainson at 301, 708 N.Y.S.2d 54;  Cabreja v. Rose, 50 A.D.3d 457, 458, 856 N.Y.S.2d 567 [1st Dept. 2008]).

General Municipal Law § 50–b(1) does not entitle defendants to the benefit of CPLR 504(1).  Even assuming that defendant Transdev Services, a private company which contracted to operate Nassau County buses, is deemed an employee of Nassau County pursuant to General Municipal Law § 50–b(1) (see Hothan v. Metropolitan Suburban Bus Auth., 289 A.D.2d 448, 449, 734 N.Y.S.2d 632 [2d Dept. 2001], lv dismissed 98 N.Y.2d 671, 746 N.Y.S.2d 459, 774 N.E.2d 224 [2002]), it is deemed an employee “for the purpose of this section” (General Municipal Law § 50–b[1]).  The facts that Transdev Services may be deemed an employee for the purposes of General Municipal Law § 50–b(1) and that Nassau County may be required to indemnify defendants do not entitle defendants to the benefit of CPLR 504 (Beaufort, 270 A.D.2d at 297, 704 N.Y.S.2d 284;  see also Cabreja, 50 A.D.3d 457, 856 N.Y.S.2d 567).

We have considered defendants' remaining contentions and find them unavailing.