FRANCA v. PARISI (2002)

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Milano, J.), dated August 27, 2001, which granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint on the ground that she did not sustain a serious injury within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102(d).

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is denied, and the complaint is reinstated.

In support of their motion for summary judgment, the defendants submitted evidence that magnetic resonance images of the plaintiff's neck and back performed one month after the accident showed disc bulges at C4 C5, C6 C7, and L4 L5. The defendants failed to demonstrate that the plaintiff's injuries were not causally related to the subject accident, or that they were not serious within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102(d) (see Hussein v. Littman, 287 A.D.2d 543, 731 N.Y.S.2d 477;  Volozhinets v. DeHaven, 286 A.D.2d 437, 729 N.Y.S.2d 510;  Junco v. Ranzi, 288 A.D.2d 440, 733 N.Y.S.2d 897;  Papadonikolakis v. First Fid. Leasing Group, 283 A.D.2d 470, 724 N.Y.S.2d 635).   Since the defendants failed to establish, prima facie, their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, the sufficiency of the papers in opposition need not be considered (see Chaplin v. Taylor, 273 A.D.2d 188, 708 N.Y.S.2d 465;  Mariaca-Olmos v. Mizrhy, 226 A.D.2d 437, 640 N.Y.S.2d 604).