Cárdenas v. Walgreens - Court Opinion

New York Appellate Division

Filed March 17th, 2026

Detected March 18th, 2026

Summary

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York affirmed a lower court's decision denying a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by Jerel Cárdenas against Walgreens. The court found that the plaintiff's allegations stated a claim under the rescue doctrine, and the primary assumption of risk doctrine was a fact-specific inquiry better suited for summary judgment.

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What changed

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department, affirmed an order denying Walgreens' motion to dismiss a complaint filed by Jerel Cárdenas. The court held that Cárdenas's allegations, which stated that Walgreens breached its duty of care by removing safety measures and that this breach caused his injuries while attempting to rescue a security guard, sufficiently stated a claim under the "rescue doctrine." The court also noted that the primary assumption of risk doctrine is a fact-specific inquiry not appropriate for a motion to dismiss.

This ruling means the case will proceed, and Walgreens must continue to defend against the lawsuit. Regulated entities, particularly retailers, should be aware that premises liability claims can proceed even when involving actions taken under the rescue doctrine. The court's emphasis on the rescue doctrine and the deferral of the primary assumption of risk analysis to a later stage suggest that plaintiffs may have a viable path to discovery and trial in similar cases.

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March 17, 2026 Get Citation Alerts Add Note

C?rdenas v. Walgreens

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

Citations: 2026 NY Slip Op 01451
Docket Number: Index No. 2025-06713; Appeal No. 6102; Case No. 100928/24
Opinion
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Combined Opinion

Cárdenas v Walgreens (2026 NY Slip Op 01451)
| C rdenas v Walgreens |
| 2026 NY Slip Op 01451 |
| Decided on March 17, 2026 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. |

Decided and Entered: March 17, 2026
Before: Manzanet-Daniels, J.P., Kapnick, Shulman, Chan, Hagler, JJ.
Index No. 2025-06713|Appeal No. 6102|Case No. 100928/24|

*[1]Jerel CÁrdenas, Plaintiff-Respondent,

Walgreens, Defendant-Appellant.**

Giordano, Glaws, Fenstermacher & Nash, LLP, New York (Xinyne Yu of counsel), for appellant.

Jerel CÁrdenas, respondent pro se.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Ashlee Crawford, J.), entered on or about September 18, 2025, which, to the extent appealed from, denied defendant's cross-motion to dismiss the complaint, unanimously affirmed, with costs.

Plaintiff's allegations that defendant owed him a duty to keep him safe while on its premises; that defendant breached this duty by removing safety measures such as armed security guards; and that defendant's breach of duty caused plaintiff's injuries when he came to the rescue of defendant's security guard who was being stabbed by an assailant, stated a claim under the "rescue doctrine" (see Leonard v City of New York, 216 AD3d 51, 54 [1st Dept 2023]). We are required to accept these allegations as true and accord plaintiff the benefit of every possible favorable inference (see Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 87-88 [1994]). Defendant's invocation of the primary assumption of risk doctrine is a fact-specific inquiry better suited to summary judgment than a motion to dismiss based only on the pleading (see Vega v Ramirez, 57 AD3d 299, 300 [1st Dept 2008]).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.

ENTERED: March 17, 2026