Novko v. State of New York
Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division
728 N.Y.S.2d 259 (2001)
- Written by Mary Pfotenhauer, JD
Facts
Paul Novko was a self-employed dairy farmer. Novko suffered spinal injuries when his vehicle was struck from behind by a state trooper’s patrol vehicle. Following the accident, Novko made significant adjustments in his farming work to reduce stress on his spine, including changing his storage and baling systems, remodeling farm buildings, hiring additional employees, and taking on a management role more often. Novko and his wife (plaintiffs) sued the State of New York (defendant), claiming past and future pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity. The trial court found the state to be fully liable, but found that Novko failed to mitigate his damages because he could have taken on another full-time job, such as selling farm equipment, that would have put less stress on his spine. The court awarded no damages for loss of earning capacity, and awarded damages for past and future pain and suffering limited to the approximately one-year period following the accident, finding that Novko’s pain and suffering after that point was the result of his failure to mitigate his damages. Novko and his wife appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Spain, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
