McCorkle v. Degl

Motion by third-party defendant, Pilgrim State Hospital (Hospital), to dismiss the third-party complaint on the ground the Hospital is an instrumentality of the State and any action against it must be brought in the Court of Claims. Third-party plaintiffs contend that this court should accept jurisdiction under the decision in Dole v. Dow Chem. Co. (30 N Y 2d 143), which permits apportionment of damages between joint tort-feasors in one action.

The facts, briefly, are as follows: The prime action is for wrongful death. Plaintiff’s decedent, who allegedly was a mental patient in the Pilgrim…