Worksite Cleanup Covered Activity Under Labor Law § 240(1) in the Right Context
In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed a Supreme Court, New York decision that granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment as to his Labor Law § 240(1) cause of action.
In Rodriguez v. Riverside Center Site 5 Owner, LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 05192, plaintiff was working for a cement supplier at a construction site. During the course of his work, he would deliver cement to the site and then clean the chute of the cement, which required using the trucks ladder to climb onto a platform with a railing that was approximately ten (10) feet off of the ground. On the date of the subject incident, after washing the cement chute for approximately 10 minutes, held onto the platform’s railing and was about to descent the ladder, when the railing broke, causing him to fall to the ground.
The First Department unanimously agreed with Supreme Court, New York County’s decision, noting that plaintiff’s washing of the cement truck at the time of the injury was a “continuation of his enumerated activity within the meaning of construction work under section 240” and that the act of washing the cement truck was “necessary and incidental to” the undisputedly covered work of delivering cement to the subject construction site. The First Department then cited to long standing Court of Appeals precedent, Pratts v. Port Auth. Of N.Y. & N.J. (100 N.Y.2d 878 (2003), which held “it is neither pragmatic nor consistent with the spirit of [Labor Law § 240(1)] to isolate the moment of the injury and ignore the general context of the work”.
The Labor Law by its very nature, often cited by New York Courts, is to protect workers employed in enumerated acts, even when those workers are performing duties ancillary to those acts. In the right context, without proper analysis it can be difficult to asses where the enumerated activity, and the protections of the Labor Law, ends.
The Rodriguez can be found here.
For additional information, contact Philip D. Priore, Esq. and/or Michael J. Shields, Esq.
This article was prepared by McCormick & Priore, P.C. to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is in no way intended to provide legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of McCormick & Priore, P.C.
