Criteria for Contractual Indemnification Explained

The Second Department determined plaintiff’s Labor Law 241(6) cause of action properly survived summary judgment and defendant was entitled to indemnification under the relevant contract.  The court explained the contractual indemnification criteria:

“While owners and general contractors owe nondelegable duties under the Labor Law to plaintiffs who are employed at their worksites, these defendants can recover in indemnity, either contractual or common-law, from those considered responsible for the accident” … . A party’s right to contractual indemnification depends upon the specific language of the relevant contract … . A promise to indemnify should not be found unless it can be clearly implied from the language and purpose of the entire agreement and the surrounding circumstances … . In addition, “a party seeking contractual indemnification must prove itself free from negligence, because to the extent its negligence contributed to the accident, it cannot be indemnified therefor” (…see General Obligations Law § 5-322.1). Shea v Bloomberg LP, 2015 NY Slip OP 00353, 2015 NY Slip Op 00353, 2nd Dept 1-14-15