Blount v Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Inc.
2008 NY Slip Op 01997 [49 AD3d 293]
March 6, 2008
Appellate Division, First Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, May 14, 2008


Henry Blount, Appellant,
v
Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Inc., Defendant, and SJP Properties, Inc., Doing Business as SJP Properties Company, Respondent.

[*1] Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman, P.C., New York City (Michael T. Altman of counsel), for appellant.

Brody, Benard & Branch LLP, New York City (Mary Ellen O'Brien of counsel), for respondent.

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Patricia Anne Williams, J.), entered January 12, 2007, which granted defendant SJP Properties, Inc.'s renewed motion to dismiss the complaint as against it for lack of jurisdiction, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff failed to demonstrate that defendant so completely controls SJP Residential, a related limited liability company formed in 2004 specifically to develop New York residential property, as to render SJP Residential a "mere department" of defendant (see Delagi v Volkswagenwerk AG of Wolfsburg, Germany, 29 NY2d 426, 432 [1972]). The only evidence in the record as to whether there is common ownership of the two entities indicates that defendant is solely owned by one individual who is also one of two shareholders in SJP Residential (see id.). There is no evidence whatever as to whether defendant controlled the day-to-day financial operations or the marketing and operational activities of SJP Residential, or whether the entities shared common officers and directors or freely exchanged employees (see id.; Public Adm'r of County of N.Y. v Royal Bank of Can., 19 NY2d 127, 131-132 [1967]; Taca Intl. Airlines, S.A. v Rolls-Royce of England, 15 NY2d 97, 101-102 [1965]).

We have considered plaintiff's remaining contention and find it unavailing. Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P., Saxe, Gonzalez and Acosta, JJ.