Opinion
May 1, 1990
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Fingerhood, J.).
In this personal injury action arising out of the allegedly negligent hiring and retention of an employee, the record reveals factual questions concerning the employee's immediately prior employment, and the circumstances surrounding his termination there, which information was apparently never explored in even a routine background check at the time of his hiring. Furthermore, defendant's affiant, who claims to have been the employee's supervisor for 2 1/2 years, was himself identified by plaintiffs as the recipient of numerous complaints about the employee's "rude, uncooperative and at times scary" demeanor towards the tenants, as well as his apparent affinity for Nazi memorabilia and knives, which decorated his apartment walls. Plaintiffs have identified witnesses who will testify at trial as to the employee's abusive and unprofessional demeanor toward others.
A question of fact is raised concerning the hiring of this employee without benefit of the most routine check of references (cf., Stevens v. Lankard, 31 A.D.2d 602, affd 25 N.Y.2d 640). The question whether defendant's conduct amounts to negligence is inherently one for the trier of fact (Johannsdottir v. Kohn, 90 A.D.2d 842).
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Milonas, Rosenberger, Asch and Rubin, JJ.