DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON PLAINTIFF’S LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED, PLAINTIFF WAS ATTEMPTING TO PUSH A HEAVY DOLLY UP A RAMP WHEN IT ROLLED BACK AND INJURED HIM (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing in part Supreme Court, determined defendants were not entitled to  summary judgment on plaintiff’s Labor Law 240 (1) cause of action. Plaintiff was attempting to push a dolly carrying sheet rock weighing 1000 pounds up a ramp when the dolly rolled back, injuring him. The Second Department also held that the defendants’ motions for summary judgment on the Labor Law 200 and common law negligence causes of action were properly granted because defendants did not have supervisory control over the manner of plaintiff’s work:

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Contrary to the defendants’ contentions, the elevation differential between the worker and the loaded dolly while on a four-to-five-foot-high ramp “cannot be viewed as de minimis, particularly given the weight of the object and the amount of force it was capable of generating” … . Indeed, in opposition to the defendants’ original motion, the plaintiff’s expert averred that the 16 pieces of sheetrock loaded onto the dolly weighed more than 1000 pounds. Here, given the amount of force generated by the dolly rolling uncontrollably down the temporary ramp, the defendants failed to establish, prima facie, that Labor Law § 240(1) is not applicable on the ground that the injury did not result from a gravity-related or elevation-related hazard … . Kandatyan v 400 Fifth Realty, LLC, 2017 NY Slip Op 07984, Second Dept 11-15-17

 

LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW (DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON PLAINTIFF’S LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED, PLAINTIFF WAS ATTEMPTING TO PUSH A HEAVY DOLLY UP A RAMP WHEN IT ROLLED BACK AND INJURED HIM (SECOND DEPT))