ACCIDENT CAUSED BY HIGH PRESSURE, NOT GRAVITY; INJURY NOT COVERED BY LABOR LAW 240(1).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s injury was not the result of the force of gravity and was therefore not covered under Labor Law 240(1):
Plaintiff … was struck by a pipe while it was being flushed clean with a highly pressurized mixture of air, water, and a rubber “rabbit” device. The movement of this mixture through the pipe failed to bring the mechanism of plaintiff’s injury within the ambit of section 240(1) because it did not involve “the direct consequence of the application of the force of gravity to an object” … . The mixture in the pipe did not move through the exercise of the force of gravity, but was rather intentionally propelled through the pipe through the use of high pressure … . Joseph v City of New York, 2016 NY Slip Op 06649, 1st Dept 10-11-16
LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW (ACCIDENT CAUSED BY HIGH PRESSURE, NOT GRAVITY; INJURY NOT COVERED BY LABOR LAW 240(1))/GRAVITY (LABOR LAW, ACCIDENT CAUSED BY HIGH PRESSURE, NOT GRAVITY; INJURY NOT COVERED BY LABOR LAW 240(1))