Court of Appeals Sets Up First Department to Dunk on Supreme Court, Bronx County Decision We love a good throwdown. We recently wrote about a decision from the Court of Appeals in Bazdaric, regarding whether plastic was a “slippery substance” for the purposes of...
GMU § 50-e(1)(a) > Labor Law § 240(1)
No Reasonable Excuse for 90-Day Delay in 90-Day Notice While the focus for our purposes is all things Labor Law, it’s important to remember that there are other laws out there, including the General Municipal Law. Details regarding the subject incident for this case...
Modern Problems & Modern Solutions
Solution to Epidemic of “Sudden Shifting” Ladders in New York is “Bolt them To the Floor” As the immortal Dave Chapelle once said, “modern problems require modern solutions.” In a recent case, the First Department reminds us that ladders can’t suddenly shift if...
Nailed It, Part II
Camouflaged Nail Trips Up Plaintiff Resulting in Summary Judgment on Labor Law § 241(6) Claim Camouflage in nature is a defense mechanism used mainly to hide. On a construction site, it’s used to help plaintiffs with their Labor Law § 241(6) claims. In Gervasi v....
Labor Law Adjacent
Failure to Plead Homeowners’ Exception to Labor Law §§ 200 & 241(6) Keeps Plaintiff from Tour of Domicile Usually, we cover decisions relating directly to the Labor Law. However, a recent Second Department case gives us a look into a discovery dispute that arose...
What a Relief
First Department Engages in Abstractionism to Find Question of Fact in Sculptor § 240(1) Case In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously reversed a Supreme Court, New York County decision that dismissed plaintiff’s Labor Law § 240(1)...
Shared Interests ≠ United in Interest
“Just Because We Have a lot in Common Doesn’t Mean I’m Ready to be Long Term Co-Defendants.” The statute of limitations is a concept that essentially says, “you can’t wait too long to bring a lawsuit, otherwise, your claim, like an avocado, will expire before you know...
Et Tu, Brute?
It’s the Safety Inspectors We Love that Hurt Us the Most In Cuomo v. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, 2024 NY Slip Op 03008, plaintiff alleged that while working on a construction project at the Bayonne Bridge, a three-step temporary staircase he was...
New Jersey Supreme Court Expands Sidewalk Liability to Owners of Vacant Commercial Lots
In Alejandra Padilla v. Young Il An (A-43-22) (087862), the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Division’s decision in a case involving sidewalk liability for owners of vacant commercial lots. The Court's decision emphasized fairness and public policy and...
