Slip and Fall On Ice While Wearing Stilts Not an Elevation-Related Event within Meaning of Labor Law 240 (1)

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Stein, over a dissent, determined that a slip and fall caused by ice on the floor was not an elevation-related event within the meaning of Labor 240(1), despite the fact the worker was using stilts when he slipped and fell:

… [T]he protections of Labor Law § 240 (1) “do not encompass any and all perils that may be connected in some tangential way with the effects of gravity” … . “Rather, liability [remains] contingent upon the existence of a hazard contemplated in section 240 (1) and the failure to use, or the inadequacy of, a safety device of the kind enumerated therein” … . Moreover, section 240 (1) is not applicable unless the plaintiff’s injuries result from the elevation-related risk and the inadequacy of the safety device … . * * *

Here, plaintiff’s accident was plainly caused by a separate hazard — ice — unrelated to any elevation risk. Plaintiff testified that stilts were the appropriate device for the type of work that he was undertaking, given the height of this particular ceiling. Plaintiff’s testimony further established that it was the ice — not a deficiency or inadequacy of the stilts — that caused his fall. Nicometi v Vineyards of Fredonia, LLC, 2015 NY Slip Op 02801 CtApp 4-2-15