Decided on January 21, 2026, the Second Department issued a decision in Ramirez v. Issa, 2026 NY Slip Op. 00272, holding that affirmative defenses unrelated to the facts of an action should be dismissed, explaining:
CPLR 3211(b) provides that a party may move for judgment dismissing one or more defenses, on the ground that a defense is not stated or has no merit. When moving to dismiss, the plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that the affirmative defenses are without merit as a matter of law because they either do not apply under the factual circumstances of the case, or fail to state a defense. Where affirmative defenses merely plead conclusions of law without any supporting facts, the affirmative defenses should be dismissed pursuant to CPLR 3211(b).
. . .
[T]he Supreme Court should have granted that branch of the plaintiffs’ motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3211(b) to dismiss the affirmative defense of statute of limitations (second affirmative defense), as the record reflects that none of the causes of action were time-barred.
The Supreme Court also should have granted those branches of the plaintiffs’ motion which were pursuant to CPLR 3211(b) to dismiss the fourth, fifth, and sixth affirmative defenses, alleging, respectively, waiver or equitable estoppel, unclean hands, and failure to mitigate damages, as those defenses were not applicable to the factual circumstances of this case.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).
