It Wasn’t Me.

Difference Between I and II Runs Out Clock for Labor Law § 240(1) Claim There are competing forces in the law in New York, and if you’ve been following along, it would seem that the Labor Law is consistently King of the Hill.  Make no mistake, the Labor Law,...

Cut The Red Wire

First Department Diffuses Plaintiff’s Labor Law Claims Car accidents don’t usually feature in Labor Law fact patterns.  Injuries to plaintiff in Labor Law claims usually occur on the jobsite, while they are outside of a vehicle, and § 240(1) (the “Scaffold Law”)...

Consistently Irrelevant Inconsistencies

Climbing Wrong Side of Ladder Still Prima Facie for Labor Law § 240(1) Claim If you were wondering “What if plaintiff completely disregards the warning labels on a ladder?  Does he still have a Labor Law § 240(1) claim if he then falls off of it?” -- it’s your lucky...

Case Extinguisher

Preclusion Spoils Defendant’s Opposition Plans On a normal day, it’s tough to be a Labor Law defendant in the State of New York.  In a recent decision, the First Department shows us just how much worse it can get if Labor Law defendants forget the fundamentals of New...

Airbnb Blues

Homeowners Clobbered by Pricing, Interest Rates, and the Labor Law. The Appellate Division, First Department, in a recent decision, took the time to clarify some details about the homeowner’s exception to Labor Law §§ 240(1) and 241(6).  The context is important –...

Agree to Disagree

First Dept. Stands with Third and Fourth Depts. On § 4.2(k) It’s common knowledge that the Appellate Departments don’t agree on everything, and those disagreements extend to the Labor Law.  You’ll recall that claims under Labor Law § 241(6) must be predicated on a...

Don’t Be a Tool

First Department Holds Plaintiff is Not Enumerated § 240(1) Device In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a Supreme Court, Bronx County decision that, inter alia[1], denied plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on his Labor Law §...

Never Underestimate a Good Tailor

First Department Threads the Needle on “Loss of Balance” If you haven’t been versing yourself in the Labor Law in your spare time, it can seem simply like “plaintiff always wins.”  Usually you’d be right, and that sentiment is true in the case discussed below. ...

Collateral Damage: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

The Double Recovery § 1722 Forgot In personal injury cases seeking damages, questions arise about whether a Plaintiff can plead, prove, and recover damages that were already paid for by another source. Normally you would have to worry about the application of the...