Opinion
July 22, 1985
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Orgera, J.).
Order reversed, without costs or disbursements, and motion granted, on condition that within 20 days after service upon him of a copy of the order to be made hereon, with notice of entry, appellant personally pay the sum of $1,000 to the plaintiffs and serve a copy of his amended answer. In the event the condition is not complied with, then order affirmed, with costs.
Appellant seeks leave to amend his answer to include the affirmative defense of release. He alleges that plaintiffs executed the release on July 31, 1981. This action was commenced on August 13, 1982. If appellant's defense of release ultimately proves successful, plaintiffs will have unnecessarily expended time and expense preparing for trial, much of which could have been prevented by a more expeditious and timely amendment by appellant. This kind of prejudice is curable through the imposition of costs ( Campbell v. La Forgia Oil Co., 81 A.D.2d 824; Ciunci v. Wella Corp., 23 A.D.2d 754). Brown, J.P., Rubin, Lawrence and Kunzeman, JJ., concur.