STATE’S LABOR LAW MADE CONDITION AN “ELEVATION-RELATED RISK”
After the New York County Supreme Court dismissed S.C.’s Labor Law claims – in response to a motion for summary judgment – an appeal followed.
And on its review of the dispute, the Appellate Division, First Department, noted that S.C. had fallen into an open manhole while performing work for a company engaged to do underground inspections and repairs for Con Ed. And, apparently, the contract between S.C.’s employer and the utility company “raised an issue of fact” as to whether S.C. work was protected by the state’s Labor Laws.
Upon reversing the lower court’s dismissal decision, and reinstating the claims, the AD1 unequivocally noted that an open manhole was an “elevation-related risk” that was subject to the Labor Law’s protections.
There sure was some hole in that argument.
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DECISION