Sherrilyn Sims v. City of New York, NYC Dept. of Education, Renald Fleurantin and Reliant Transportation Inc.
Plaintiff Sims was a matron on a NYC school bus, operated by defendant Fleurantin. Both were employees of All American School Bus Corporation, which had leased the bus from its owner, Reliant Transportation Inc. While Fleurantin was driving, with no students on board, he lost control of the bus and impacted other vehicles on the FDR Drive. Ms. Sims was injured in this accident, and sued the City, the Dept. of Education, Mr. Fleurantin and Reliant Transportation. Ms. Sims applied for and has received in excess of $300,000.00 in Workers Compensation benefits from her employer’s Workers Compensation policy.
We moved for summary judgment, arguing that 1) the City and DOE had hired All American as an “outside contractor” and therefore it has no liability for its actions; 2) Fleurantin cannot be sued because he is a “fellow employee” of All American and is therefore protected by the exclusivity of NY Workers Compensation Law §29(6); and 3) Reliant Transportation had leased the bus to All American as part of its business, and it is therefore exempted from liability by the Graves Amendment (49 USC §30106).
After oral argument, the Court granted the motion and dismissed the case as to all of the defendants.