Opinion
October 5, 1992
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Katz, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The appellant landlord, Dav Gold Realty Corp., seeks indemnity from its tenant Mee-Mee Produce, Inc., for damages paid to the plaintiff in settlement of the plaintiff's claim that she was injured when she slipped on lettuce leaves and fell while present on the subject premises. However, "where a party voluntarily settles a claim, he must demonstrate that he was legally liable to the party whom he paid in order to recover over against an indemnitor" (Abrams v Milwaukee Elec. Tool Corp., 171 A.D.2d 930, 931; see also, Dunn v Uvalde Asphalt Paving Co., 175 N.Y. 214; Codling v Paglia, 38 A.D.2d 154, mod on other grounds 32 N.Y.2d 330). Under the circumstances of this case, as a matter of law, the landlord was not liable for the plaintiff's injuries (see, Silver v Brodsky, 112 A.D.2d 213; Shaya v Piacquaddio, 67 A.D.2d 969; see generally, Putnam v Stout, 38 N.Y.2d 607; Manning v New York Tel. Co., 157 A.D.2d 264). Therefore, the tenant was properly granted summary judgment dismissing the indemnity claim. Mangano, P.J., Harwood, Miller and Santucci, JJ., concur.