FALLING PLYWOOD NOT ACTIONABLE UNDER LABOR LAW 240 (1), PLYWOOD WAS NOT BEING HOISTED AND WAS NOT REQUIRED TO BE SECURED, LABOR LAW 246 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION PROPERLY SURVIVED.
The Second Department determined plaintiff’s Labor Law 240 (1) cause of action, based upon injury caused by a falling piece of plywood, was properly dismissed because the plywood was not being hoisted and did not need to be secured. Plaintiff’s 241 (6) cause of action was properly allowed to proceed:
… [T]he Supreme Court correctly determined that the defendants established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law dismissing the cause of action alleging violations of Labor Law § 240(1) by submitting the deposition transcript of [defendant’s] superintendent, which demonstrated that the plywood that fell was not being hoisted or secured and did not require securing for the purposes of the undertaking at the time it fell … . * * *
As to the Labor Law § 241(6) cause of action, which was predicated upon a violation of 12 NYCRR 23-1.7(a)(1), the Supreme Court … correctly determined that … the defendants established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law based upon the plaintiff’s supervisor’s affidavit, in which he averred that the area where the plaintiff was working was not normally exposed to falling material or objects (see 12 NYCRR 23-1.7[a][1]…). In opposition, the plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact by submitting the plaintiff’s supervisor’s deposition testimony, in which he testified, in contradiction to his affidavit, that it was known that objects were “always” falling at the plaintiff’s worksite, and that objects fell “sometimes” and “once in a while” … . Millette v Tishman Constr. Corp., 2016 NY Slip Op 08053, 2nd Dept 11-30-16
LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW (FALLING PLYWOOD NOT ACTIONABLE UNDER LABOR LAW 240 (1), NOT BEING HOISTED OR REQUIRED TO BE SECURED, LABOR LAW 246 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION PROPERLY SURVIVED)