Yankwitt LLP successfully moved for summary judgment on behalf of Gayle Fedigan, a defendant who was sued for wrongful death after a woman died in a vehicle that Fedigan previously owned. The decedent’s estate alleged that Fedigan sold the vehicle to the decedent with an inoperable airbag, which allegedly led to decedent’s death in a collision. Through our investigation, a remarkable turn of events was uncovered that conclusively proved that Fedigan did not sell the vehicle to the decedent, but was in fact the victim of forgery, which resulted in her name appearing on all of the sales documents provided to decedent at the time of the sale.
Based on information derived from a full investigation, which included deposition testimony and records that Yankwitt LLP subpoenaed from Craigslist.com, Verizon Wireless and Google, Yankwitt LLP demonstrated to the court that there was no evidence that Fedigan sold the car to the decedent and that all of the evidence pointed to a used car dealer who sold the car using forged documents. We argued that because Fedigan did not sell the vehicle to the decedent, she owed the decedent no duty under New York law and could not be held responsible for her death.
Federal District Judge Vincent Briccetti of the Southern District of New York agreed, granted Yankwitt LLP’s motion and dismissed the case
The case is Centi v. Fedigan, No. 17-CV-325 (SDNY)