DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is modified, on the law, by deleting the provision thereof granting that branch of the plaintiff's motion which was to amend the summons and complaint to add the appellant as a defendant and substituting therefor a provision denying that branch of the motion; as so modified, the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements.
Motions for leave to amend pleadings are to be liberally granted absent prejudice or surprise resulting from the delay. However, where the proposed amendment is palpably insufficient as a matter of law or is totally devoid of merit, leave should be denied (see, Tarantini v. Russo Realty Corp., 259 A.D.2d 484). Under the facts of this case, the plaintiff expressly waived his right to bring a claim under the Jones Act (see, 42 U.S.C. § 688), and therefore, the proposed amendment is devoid of merit (see, Workers' Compensation Law § 113; Matter of Braadt v. City of New York, 15 N.Y.2d 875; Matter of Ahern v. South Buffalo Ry. Co., 303 N.Y. 545, affd 344 U.S. 367; Tarantini v. Russo Realty Corp., supra).
The third-party defendant's remaining contention is academic in light of the foregoing.