Yu Chen v Kupoint (USA) Corp., 2018 NY Slip Op 02498 [2d Dept. 2018]
On a motion pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action, the court must afford the complaint a liberal construction, accept all facts as alleged in the complaint to be true, accord the plaintiff the benefit of every possible favorable inference, and determine only whether the facts as alleged fit within any cognizable legal theory (see Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 87; Murphy v Department of Educ. of the City of N.Y., 155 AD3d 637). Accordingly, a motion to dismiss made pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) must fail if, upon taking all the facts alleged in the complaint as true and according them every possible inference favorable to the plaintiff, "the complaint states in some recognizable form any cause of action known to our law" (Shaya B. Pac., LLC v Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, LLP, 38 AD3d 34, 38). While a court is permitted to consider evidentiary material submitted by a defendant in support of a motion to dismiss pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) (see Phillips v Taco Bell Corp., 152 AD3d 806, 807), "affidavits submitted by a defendant will almost never warrant dismissal under CPLR 3211 unless they establish conclusively that [the plaintiff] has no cause of action" (Bokhour v GTI Retail Holdings, Inc., 94 AD3d 682, 683 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Phillips v Taco Bell Corp., 152 AD3d at 808; Dolphin Holdings, Ltd. v Gander & White Shipping, Inc., 122 AD3d 901, 902). The plaintiff "may not be penalized for failure to make an evidentiary showing in support of a complaint that states a claim on its face" (Miglino v Bally Total Fitness of Greater N.Y., Inc., 20 NY3d 342, 351, citing Rovello v Orofino Realty Co., 40 NY2d 633, 635). Indeed, if a plaintiff chooses to stand on his or her pleading alone, "confident that its allegations are sufficient to state all the necessary elements of a cognizable cause of action, he [or she] is at liberty to do so and, unless the motion to dismiss is converted by the court to a motion for summary judgment, he [or she] will not be penalized because he [or she] has not made an evidentiary showing in support of his [or her] complaint" (Rovello v Orofino Realty Co., 40 NY2d at 635).
emphasis is mine
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