In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, Second Department upheld a Supreme Court, Kings County decision denying plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability on the causes of action alleging violations of Labor Law §§ 240(1) and 241(6)...
First Department Breaks Ground on Below-Grade Elevation-Related Hazards
In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, First Department considered the issue of whether a below-grade excavation cave-in represents an elevation-related hazard within the purview of Labor Law § 240(1). The facts of Rivas v. Seward Park Hous. Corp., 2023 NY Slip...
Second Department Rules for Rock-and-Roll over Sole Proximate Cause
In a recent decision, the Second Department reversed a Supreme Court, Rockland County Order granting defendant/third-party plaintiff and third-party defendants’ motions for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging, inter alia, alleging violation of...
Glen Shikunov Secures Superior Court Decision in a Case of First Impression Concerning Constructive Notice of UM/UIM Stacking Rejection Waivers
In a recent decision in Golik v. Erie Ins. Exch., 2023 PA Super 150 (Aug. 7, 2023)(approved for publication, no citation yet available), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania considered as a matter of first impression the question of whether a first named insured’s...
“Maintenance” under § 240(1) Sparks Split Decision in 4th Department
In a recent decision, the Fourth Department reversed a Supreme Court, Erie County Order granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on liability pursuant to Labor Law § 200 (“codified negligence”) and denying defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment...
Supreme Court Rejects Review of Challenge to UM/UIM “Coordination of Benefits” Provision
Last year, Glen Shikunov of McCormick & Priore, P.C. successfully litigated an appeal on a matter of first impression in the Superior Court in Erie Ins. Exch. v. Backmeier, 287 A.3d 931 (Pa. Super. 2022) wherein the Court rejected an attempt by a Plaintiff to...
“I don’t know. I just ‘work’ ‘here’.”
In a pair of recent cases, the Second Department considered what “work” is “ancillary” to activity falling under the purview of Labor Law § 240(1). By way of background, Labor Law § 240(1), also known notoriously as “The Scaffold Law,” protects workers from...
Fourth Department Highlights Departments’ Split on 12 NYCRR § 23-4.2(k)
In a recent decision The Fourth Department reversed a Supreme Court Order, holding that Industrial Code provision 12 NYCRR § 23-4.2(k) is not sufficiently specific to support a Labor Law § 241(6) cause of action. We note, Labor Law § 241(6) claims are required to be...
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Statute of Limitations in UM/UIM Claims
Before 2017, the question of when the statute of limitations accrued for uninsured motorist (“UM”) and underinsured motorist (“UIM”) claims was relatively straightforward: UM/UIM claims accrued when either the insured sustained bodily injury in an accident and knew of...