Sudden Moving Ladder Syndrome Continues to Spread
A tale as old as time.
In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed a Supreme Court, Bronx County decision that granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment as to his Labor Law §§ 240(1) and 241(6) causes of action.
In Suazo v. 501 Madison-Sutton LLC, 2025 NY Slip Op 00930, plaintiff claimed, by his testimony, that he was engaged in wall plastering work at the top of an A-frame ladder, and that while he held plaster material in one hand, and his spread knife in the other as he worked, the ladder suddenly toppled, casing him to fall. The First Department agreed with the lower Court that plaintiff established his prima facie entitlement to summary judgment as a matter of law and that the defendants’ contentions that inconsistencies in plaintiff’s testimony regarding ladder height, ceiling height, ladder stability as he stood on it, or even whether the ladder had moved before it toppled, were insufficient to raise a triable question of fact.
You’ll recall from our prior commentary:
What’s interesting about this case is that defendants cited to inconsistencies in plaintiff’s testimony, specifically regarding whether the ladder moved before it toppled, but those inconsistencies were insufficient to thwart plaintiff’s prima facie case. We’ll have to check the tape on the deposition transcript, but you’d expect that if there was inconsistency regarding whether plaintiff lost his balance before the ladder moved, that plaintiff’s summary judgment motion might have a better chance at being denied.
The Suazo decision can be found here.
For additional information, contact Philip D. Priore, Esq. and/or Michael J. Shields, Esq.
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