No. In New York, a hotel and its insurer cannot avoid liability just because your coworker already had a knee problem. They can argue the fall did not cause a new injury, but they are still responsible if the unsafe condition aggravated a pre-existing condition. That is the basic eggshell plaintiff rule.

What should have happened right away: after the Queens hotel fall, the incident should have been reported to hotel staff, with an incident report requested, photos taken, and treatment started quickly. If your coworker is a gig driver for Uber, DoorDash, or Amazon Flex, there usually is no workers' compensation for this kind of off-app premises injury, so this is often a claim against the hotel's liability insurer instead.

Medical records matter here. The key is not hiding the old knee issue. The doctor should clearly note: what the knee was like before, what changed after the fall, and whether the fall caused a worsening, flare, tear, instability, or need for surgery.

What to do now: get the full prior records, including the old MRI, and the new records. The old MRI is not fatal; it is evidence to compare against newer imaging. If the insurer says, "this was already there," the response is usually medical: the fall caused a measurable aggravation. Preserve hotel evidence too - video, witness names, floor condition, lighting, broken tile, wet surface, or missing warning signs.

If the hotel is in Queens, the case would usually be filed in Queens County Supreme Court if it cannot be resolved. The normal deadline for a New York injury lawsuit is 3 years from the fall under CPLR 214.

What comes next: expect the insurer to request prior records and possibly an independent medical exam. They will try to separate "old injury" from "new damage." The claim gets stronger when the timeline shows your coworker was functioning before the fall and had worse symptoms, new limitations, or new treatment afterward.