Opinion
75 Index No. 157935/19 Case No. 2022-01037
04-20-2023
Ariel HOFFMAN, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. AKT IN MOTION, INC., Defendant–Appellant.
Law Office of Craig Dietsch, Brooklyn (Craig Dietsch of counsel), for appellant. Goddard Law PLLC, New York (Anthony P. Consiglio of counsel), for respondent.
Law Office of Craig Dietsch, Brooklyn (Craig Dietsch of counsel), for appellant.
Goddard Law PLLC, New York (Anthony P. Consiglio of counsel), for respondent.
Oing, J.P., Gonza´lez, Shulman, Higgitt, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (David B. Cohen, J.), entered on or about September 23, 2021, which denied defendant's motion to compel arbitration and dismiss the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Plaintiff's contention that CPLR 7515, which bars mandatory arbitration of discrimination claims, renders the arbitration provision unenforceable is unavailing, as that provision applies prospectively (see CPLR 7515[b][i] ), and postdates the arbitration agreement in this matter (see Curtis v. Marino, 201 A.D.3d 584, 585, 157 N.Y.S.3d 721 [1st Dept. 2022] ). Nonetheless, Supreme Court properly denied defendant's motion. Defendant's 18–month participation in the litigation, which included a request for an extension of time to answer the complaint, the filing of an answer, appearance at a preliminary conference, and agreeing to a discovery schedule, amounts to a waiver of its contractual right to arbitrate (see JSBarkats PLLC v. Response Scientific Inc., 149 A.D.3d 652, 652, 50 N.Y.S.3d 873 [1st Dept. 2017] ).
We have considered defendant's remaining contentions and find them unavailing.