Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Queens County (Kevin Kerrigan, J.), entered March 31, 2005. The order denied plaintiff's motion to vacate the dismissal of the action and to restore the case to the calendar.

Order reversed without costs and plaintiff's motion to vacate the dismissal of the action and to restore the case to the calendar granted.

In this negligence action for personal injuries, plaintiff failed to appear on the trial date which had been scheduled almost six months earlier. In our opinion, under the circumstances presented, including, inter alia, the absence of any evidence of willfulness by the plaintiff, the lack of prejudice to defendants, the existence of a meritorious action as determined by a prior order which denied defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's action on the ground that she did not suffer a serious injury pursuant to Insurance Law § 5102 (d), plaintiff's affidavit on the issue of liability, and the public policy in favor of resolving cases on the merits, the motion court should have granted plaintiff's motion to vacate the dismissal (see Bais Yoel Ohel Feige v Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar of Kiryas Joel, 28 AD3d 594 [2006]; Mineroff v Macy & Co., 97 AD2d 535 [1983]).

Pesce, P.J., Weston Patterson and Golia, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: February 14, 2007