Mark v. Vasseur

In Mark v. Vasseur (213 A.D.2d 927 [3d Dept 1995]), plaintiff sued for personal injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident with the defendant, an employee of the State Department of Correctional Services who was transporting prisoners in a state-owned van. Defendant, in a motion to set aside an adverse verdict, argued that Correction Law 24 required that the matter be tried exclusively before the Court of Claims. The court denied defendant's claim citing Morrell and Martin v. Baughman (205 A.D.2d 966 [3d Dept 1994]). In Mark, the Court implicitly found that defendant's operation of the vehicle was not an exercise of an official government function and the State was not the real party in interest. The matter was deemed to be outside of the ambit of Correction Law 24 and properly before the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals denied permission to appeal the decision (85 N.Y.2d 1032, 655 N.E.2d 403, 631 N.Y.S.2d 290 [1995]).