Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County (Debra Rose Samuels, J.), entered on or about January 3, 2011, after trial, in favor of defendant dismissing the action.

Per Curiam.

Judgment (Debra Rose Samuels, J.), entered on or about January 3, 2011, reversed, without costs, and judgment awarded in favor of plaintiff in the principal sum of $1,239.81. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly.

The unrefuted evidence presented at the trial of this small claims action showed, and it is not seriously disputed, that plaintiff purchased dining room furniture from defendant in November 2006, and that, within a little more than three years time, three of the four chairs sold as a set proved to be defective, with two of the chairs having collapsed or "splintered" during ordinary use — the first such incident occurring several months after the purchase date when "the entire seat frame [of a chair] broke in half" — and a third "wobbly" chair no longer in use based on plaintiff's (legitimate) safety concerns arising from a loose screw "dangling down" from underneath the seat. Plaintiff thus established that defendant breached the implied warranty of merchantability (see UCC § 2-314[2][c]) by selling furniture that was not "minimally safe for its expected purpose" (Denny v Ford Motor Co., 87 NY2d 248, 258-259 [1995]; cf. Pronti v DML of Elmira, 103 AD2d 916 [1984][dining room furniture held fit for intended use where purchaser able "to place food for meals, sit on chairs, store items" (emphasis supplied)]). On this record, the ends of "substantial justice" (CCA 1807) will best be served by awarding plaintiff the return of the purchase price of the defective furniture (see Murphy v Mallard Coach Co., 179 AD2d 187, 194-195 [1992]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
Decision Date: January 25, 2012