The case involves plaintiffs, who claim to be heirs of Margaret Kainer, a Jewish woman whose art collection including a Degas painting was looted by Nazis in 1935, suing Christie's and others for facilitating sales of the work without their involvement and seeking its return or damages. Nine years earlier, the trial court stayed the New York action against Christie's under CPLR 327 pending European court resolution of whether plaintiffs are lawful heirs. The Appellate Division reversed the denial of plaintiffs' motion to vacate the stay, ruling that the action should proceed because the European proceedings have not resolved the heirship issue, no resolution appears imminent, and public policy plus fundamental fairness favor moving forward on claims arising from World War II and Holocaust-era plunder. The court remanded for further proceedings while noting Christie's could seek a new stay if circumstances change.
The case involved New York City Police Department sergeants who took promotional civil service examinations in 2023 and were later accused by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) of violating test-site rules by accessing and using their cell phones after completing the exam but before a unified dismissal time. DCAS determined that the petitioners violated Civil Service Law provisions and examination regulations, resulting in their exams not being scored and a five-year bar from future civil service exams. The petitioners brought a CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul these determinations, which the Supreme Court denied while granting the respondents' cross-motion to dismiss. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed, holding that the administrative determinations were irrational because they rested on ambiguous, uncodified test-taking rules about cell phone use, and it vacated the determinations while remanding for further proceedings.
The case involved New York City Police Department sergeants who took promotional civil service examinations in 2023 and were later accused by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) of violating test-site rules by accessing and using their cell phones after completing the exam but before a unified dismissal time. DCAS determined that the petitioners violated Civil Service Law provisions and examination regulations, resulting in their exams not being scored and a five-year bar from future civil service exams. The petitioners brought a CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul these determinations, which the Supreme Court denied while granting the respondents' cross-motion to dismiss. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed, holding that the administrative determinations were irrational because they rested on ambiguous, uncodified test-taking rules about cell phone use, and it vacated the determinations while remanding for further proceedings.
The case involved New York City Police Department sergeants who took promotional civil service examinations in 2023 and were later accused by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) of violating test-site rules by accessing and using their cell phones after completing the exam but before a unified dismissal time. DCAS determined that the petitioners violated Civil Service Law provisions and examination regulations, resulting in their exams not being scored and a five-year bar from future civil service exams. The petitioners brought a CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul these determinations, which the Supreme Court denied while granting the respondents' cross-motion to dismiss. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed, holding that the administrative determinations were irrational because they rested on ambiguous, uncodified test-taking rules about cell phone use, and it vacated the determinations while remanding for further proceedings.
The case involved New York City Police Department sergeants who took promotional civil service examinations in 2023 and were later accused by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) of violating test-site rules by accessing and using their cell phones after completing the exam but before a unified dismissal time. DCAS determined that the petitioners violated Civil Service Law provisions and examination regulations, resulting in their exams not being scored and a five-year bar from future civil service exams. The petitioners brought a CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul these determinations, which the Supreme Court denied while granting the respondents' cross-motion to dismiss. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed, holding that the administrative determinations were irrational because they rested on ambiguous, uncodified test-taking rules about cell phone use, and it vacated the determinations while remanding for further proceedings.
The case involved New York City Police Department sergeants who took promotional civil service examinations in 2023 and were later accused by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) of violating test-site rules by accessing and using their cell phones after completing the exam but before a unified dismissal time. DCAS determined that the petitioners violated Civil Service Law provisions and examination regulations, resulting in their exams not being scored and a five-year bar from future civil service exams. The petitioners brought a CPLR article 78 proceeding to annul these determinations, which the Supreme Court denied while granting the respondents' cross-motion to dismiss. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed, holding that the administrative determinations were irrational because they rested on ambiguous, uncodified test-taking rules about cell phone use, and it vacated the determinations while remanding for further proceedings.