Da Costa v. Technico Construction Corp.

The defendant made a motion to dismiss plaintiff’s cause of action for punitive damages at the end of plaintiff’s case upon which the court reserved decision. This was renewed at the end of the entire ease together with a motion under CPLR 4404 to set aside the verdict for compensatory damages. This decision disposes of all these motions.

The basic cause of action is for property damages to plaintiff’s one-family house, garage, sidewalk and driveway caused by the defendant, a general contractor, in the course of constructing a seven-story nursing home alongside plaintiff’s property.

The jury…