7/25/2019 20160112-

1/4

SHORT FORM ORDER

SUPREME COURT - STATE OF NEW YORKCI VI L TERM - l AS PART 34 - QUEENS COUNTY

25- 10 COURT SQUARE, LONG I SLAND CI TY, N. Y. 11101

PRE SEN T, : HON. ROBERT J. MCDONALD

Justice

- - - - - - - - - - - x

CHANG J I N PARK,

Pl ai nt i f f ,

- agai ns t -

HEATHER HYUN- AH CHO,

Def endant .

I ndex No. : 707726/ 2015

Mot i on Dat e: 10/ 16/ 15

Mot i on No. : 76

Mot i on Seq. : 1

1

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

The f ol l owi ng paper s number ed 1 t o 9 r ead on t hi s mot i on bydef endant , Heat her Hyun- Ah Cho, f or an or der di smi ssi ng t hecompl ai nt wi t h pr ej udi ce pur suant t o t he doct r i ne of f or um nonconveni ens as set f or t h i n CPLR ~ 327:

Paper sNumber ed

Not i ce of Mot i on- Af f i r mat i on- Exhi bi t s - Memo. of Law 1 - 5Opposi t i on 6 - 7Repl y 8 - 9

Thi s i s an act i on t o r ecover damages f or per sonal i nj ur i esand emot i onal di st r ess sust ai ned by pl ai nt i f f , Chang J i m Par k. OnDecember 5, 2014, pl ai nt i f f was a f l i ght at t endant on Kor ean Ai rFl i ght KE0086 schedul ed t o f l y f r om J ohn F. Kennedy Ai r por t i nQueens, New Yor k t o Seoul , Sout h Kor ea. Pl ai nt i f f cl ai ms t hatwhi l e t he pl ane was st i l l on t he gr ound at J FK, def endant ,Heat her Hyun- Ah Cho, who was t he vi ce pr esi dent of cabi n ser vi cesf or Kor ean Ai r , became angr y wi t h f l i ght at t endant Do He Ki m.Pl ai nt i f f c l ai ms t hat he went over t o def endant t o s ee i f hecoul d be of assi st ance at whi ch t i me def endant pr oceeded t oassaul t and beat hi m, causi ng hi s ski n t o br eak, causi ng hi m t o

bl eed, and causi ng hi m t o suf f er cont usi ons and subder mal t r auma.Pl ai nt i f f f ur t her al l eges t hat def endant s hout ed obs ceni t i es athi m as she was beat i ng hi m. The compl ai nt f ur t her al l eges t hatdef endant demanded t hat t he pi l ot r et ur n t he pl ane t o t he gat e.

The pi l ot compl i ed. When t he pl ane ar r i ved at t he gat e, def endantdemanded t hat pl ai nt i f f be ej ect ed f r om the pl ane, whi ch he ~1

,1..,1d 4 N 7 fJ Z

C o . ,e ( J l q

Que~~'fl,.(J

w O U N r

ILED: QUEENS COUNTY CLERK 01/19/2016 01:53 PM INDEX NO. 707726

YSCEF DOC. NO. 25 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/19

7/25/2019 20160112-

2/4

A cr i mi nal pr oceedi ng was br ought agai nst def endant i nSeoul , Kor ea. Def endant was f ound gui l t y of , i nt er al i a,assaul t i ng a cr ew member and was sent enced t o a year i n pr i son.

Pl ai nt i f f cl ai ms t hat as a r e sul t of t hi s i nci dent her ecei ved medi cal t r eat ment and was out of wor k. He was di agnosed

wi t h pani c di sor der and an anxi et y di sor der . On Mar ch 19, 2015,he f i l ed an Appl i cat i on f or Medi cal Car e Benef i t s and Tempor ar yDi sabi l i t y Compensat i on Benef i t s wi t h t he Worker s' Compensat i onand Wel f ar e Ser vi ce. Pai n and suf f er i ng damages, however , ar e notavai l abl e t o wor ker s under t he Kor ean Wor ker s' Compensat i on

Syst em.

Pl ai nt i f f , a ci t i zen and r esi dent of Seoul , Kor ea, commencedt hi s act i on by f i l i ng a summons and compl ai nt i n Queens Count ySupr eme Cour t on J ul y 22, 2015. Def endant , who i s al so a ci t i zenof Kor ea, now moves t o di smi ss pl ai nt i f f ' s compl ai nt under t hef or um non conveni ens doct r i ne.

CPLR 327( a) pr ovi des t hat t he cour t may di smi ss an act i on. " ( w] hen t he cour t f i nds t hat i n t he i nt er es t of s ubs t ant i alj ust i ce t he act i on shoul d be hear d i n anot her f or um. " " The bur denr est s upon t he def endant chal l engi ng t he f or um t o demonst r at er el evant pr i vat e or publ i c i nt er es t f ac t o r s whi c h mi l i t at eagai nst accept i ng t he l i t i gat i on" ( I sl ami c Republ i c of I r an vPahl avi , 62 NY2d 474, 479 [ 1984] ) .

The cour t s consi der and bal ance t he f ol l owi ng f act or s i ndet er mi ni ng an appl i cat i on f or di smi ssal based on f or um nonconveni ens: exi st ence of an adequat e al t er nat i ve f or um; si t us oft he under l yi ng t r ans ac t i on; r es i denc y of t he par t i es ; pot ent i alhar ds hi p t o t he def endant ; l oc at i on of doc ument s ; l oc at i on of amaj or i t y of t he wi t nes s es ; exi s t enc e of a f or um s el ec t i on c l aus e;need t o appl y t he l aw of a f or ei gn j ur i s di c t i on; and bur den onNew Yor k cour t s ( see I sl ami c Republ i c of I r an v Pahl avi , 62 NY2d474, 479 [ 1984J ; Mar t i n v Mei t h, 35 NY2d 414 [ 1974] ; Pet er s vPet er s, 101 AD3d 403 [ 1st Dept . 2012] ) .

Wher e t her e i s no subst ant i al connect i on t o New Yor k,di smi ssal based upon f or um non conveni ens i s war r ant ed ( seeI r r i gat i on & I ndus. Dev. Cor p. v I ndag, S. A. , 37 NY2d 522[ 1975] ) , "The mer e occur r ence of an acci dent wi t hi n our boar der s

, does not c ons t i t ut e a s ubs t ant i al nexus s o a s t o mandat et he r et ent i on of j ur i s di c t i on" ( Mar t i n v Mei t h, 35 NY2d 414[ 1974J ) ,

2

7/25/2019 20160112-

3/4

Her e, bot h of t he par t i es r es i de i n Seoul , Kor ea; vi r t ual l yal l of t he non- par t y wi t nes s es ar e Kor ean c i t i z ens and r es i dent s ;t he r el evant doc ument s ar e l oc at ed i n Kor ea and ar e wr i t t en i nKor ean; pl ai nt i f f was t r eat ed f or hi s i nj ur i es i n Kor ea;pl ai nt i f f ' s physi ci ans and al l r ecor ds per t ai ni ng t o hi s i nj ur i es

ar e l oc at ed i n Kor ea; t he Kor ean aut hor i t i es have al r eady ac t edi n t hi s mat t er by i nvest i gat i ng and hol di ng cr i mi nal pr oceedi ngsi n Kor ea; and pl ai nt i f f has appl i ed f or wor ker s' compensat i on i nKor ea. I n c ons i der i ng t hat nei t her par t y t o t he l aws ui t i s a New

Yor k r esi dent and t hat no r el evant conduct occur r ed i n New Yor kapar t f r om t he i nc i dent oc cur r i ng on t he gr ound at J FK r at hert han i n t he ai r s pace, t hi s Cour t f i nds t hat t her e i s nos ubs t ant i al nexus s o as t o mandat e t he r et ent i on of j ur i s di c t i on( see e. g. Mar t i n v Mei t h, 35 NY2d 414 [ 1974J [ di smi ssi ng t he

act i on on f or um non conveni ens gr ounds wher e t he onl y connect i onbet ween New Yor k and t he i nci dent was t hat t he i nci dent occur r edi n New Yor k] ; Adamowi cz v Besnai nou, 58 AD3d 546 [ 1st Dept . 2009]

[ di smi ssi ng t he act i on on f or um non conveni ens gr ounds wher epl ai nt i f f f ai l ed t o i dent i f y a si ngl e wi t ness ot her t han hi msel f who mi ght be pr esent i n t he count r y] ; Ni chol son v Pf i zer , 278AD2d 143 [ 1st Dept . 2000] [ di smi ssi ng t he act i on on f or um nonconveni ens gr ounds wher e pl ai nt i f f ' s physi ci ans wer e not l ocat ed

i n New Yor k]) .

Addi t i onal l y, Kor ea pr ovi des an adequat e al t er nat e f or um. Asbot h par t i es ar e Kor ean nat i onal s who ar e domi ci l ed i n Kor ea, t heKor ean cour t s mai nt ai n j ur i sdi ct i on over t hem r egar dl ess of wher et he al l eged t or t i ous act s may have occur r ed, and pl ai nt i f f ' sc l ai ms f or as s aul t , bat t er y, and t he i nt ent i onal i nf l i c t i on of

emot i onal di st r ess ar e cogni zabl e under Kor ean l aw. Mor eover ,pl ai nt i f f has al r eady avai l ed hi msel f of t he Kor ean cour t s byi ni t i at i ng a wor ker s' compensat i on cl ai m i n Kor ea. Thi s Cour tal so f i nds pl ai nt i f f ' s cont ent i on t hat he woul d not r ecei ve af ai r t r i al i n Kor ea t o be bas el es s as Kor ean pr os ec ut or s al r eadyconvi ct ed def endant i n a cri mi nal pr oceedi ng ar i si ng out of t hesame f act s al l eged her ei n.

Last l y, a par al l el act i on f i l ed i n Supr eme Cour t , QueensCount y, Do Hee Ki m v Heat her Hyun- Ah Cho, et al . , I ndex No.702206/ 2015, has al r eady been di smi ssed on f or um non conveni ensgr ounds. As t he t wo mat t er s r ai se over l appi ng f act ual and l egal

i ssues, r esol vi ng t hem bot h i n Kor ea wi l l avoi d. t he dupl i cat i onof pr oof and possi bl y i nconsi st ent f i ndi ngs.

Accor di ngl y, based upon t he f or egoi ng, i t i s her eby

3

7/25/2019 20160112-

4/4

ORDERED, t hat def endant ' s mot i on i s gr ant ed and t hecompl ai nt i s di smi ssed based on t He doct r i ne of f or um non

conveni ens.

Dat ed: J anuar y 12, 2016

Long I sl and Ci t y. N.Y.

4