OWNER AND MANAGING AGENT LIABLE FOR LABOR LAW’S VIOLATION
A New York State law -- Labor Law § 240(1) -- seeks to protect construction workers engaged in certain types of activities and makes a property owner responsible for the failure to provide, among other things, adequate safety devices.
After CC injured his wrist while working on the roof of a construction site, he sued the property owner and its managing agent in Queens County Supreme Court and later sought a determination that the governing safety statute had been violated, which the court granted in his favor.
On appeal, the Appellate Division, Second Department, noted that CC was carrying a roll of tar paper down an extension ladder when the roll fell and he was forced to grab the ladder to stop himself from falling; thus injuring himself.
While there was a trolley that was to be used for the transport of heavy materials, because that device required two people, and a second person was supposedly unavailable, CC was purportedly instructed by a foreman to use the ladder, “which was not an adequate device for lowering the rolls.”
Given those unrebutted facts, the AD2 thought the court below had correctly decided in CC favor’s and it left the liability finding undisturbed.
Guess those defendants will now have to roll over ….
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