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ALTHOUGH PLAINTIFF FELL OFF A LOADING DOCK WHILE WAITING TO SIGN IN TO WORK IN A BUILDING, HIS INJURY OCCURRED AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE AND WHILE HE WAS ENGAGED IN WORK INVOLVING A GRAVITY-RELATED RISK WITHIN THE MEANING OF LABOR LAW 240 (1) (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, over a two-justice dissent, determined the motion to dismiss plaintiff’s Labor Law 240 (1) cause of action was properly denied. Plaintiff fell off a loading platform while waiting to sign in to work painting upper floors of a building. The dissent argued that plaintiff was not at the construction site, within the meaning of the statute, at the time of the injury:

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Rather than isolating the moment of a plaintiff’s injury, the general context of the work is what should be taken into account … . Clearly, at the time of the accident, plaintiff was entering the building and reporting to the construction site through the only means of access the owner made available to him and all other construction workers. Arguments that plaintiff’s injury did not occur at a “construction site,” under the circumstance of this case, places an unintended limitation on Labor Law § 240(1).

While at the precise moment of plaintiff’s injury he was awaiting clearance to enter the building and he slipped or fell off a permanent structure, there is no merit to [defendant’s] further contention that plaintiff was not actually engaged in work involving a gravity-related risk … . We have held that injuries sustained while a worker was on site, although entering or exiting the site, or on a break, come within the protections of Labor Law § 240(1) … . It is, therefore, of no moment the elevated loading dock is a permanent fixture that existed before the project began … . Hoyos v NY-1095 Ave. of the Ams., LLC, 2017 NY Slip Op 08717, First Dept 12-14-17

 

LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW (ALTHOUGH PLAINTIFF FELL OFF A LOADING DOCK WHILE WAITING TO SIGN IN TO WORK IN A BUILDING, HIS INJURY OCCURRED AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE AND WHILE HE WAS ENGAGED IN WORK INVOLVING A GRAVITY-RELATED RISK WITHIN THE MEANING OF LABOR LAW 240 (1) (FIRST DEPT))/CONSTRUCTION SITE (LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW, ALTHOUGH PLAINTIFF FELL OFF A LOADING DOCK WHILE WAITING TO SIGN IN TO WORK IN A BUILDING, HIS INJURY OCCURRED AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE AND WHILE HE WAS ENGAGED IN WORK INVOLVING A GRAVITY-RELATED RISK WITHIN THE MEANING OF LABOR LAW 240 (1) (FIRST DEPT))GRAVITY-RELATED RISK (LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW, ALTHOUGH PLAINTIFF FELL OFF A LOADING DOCK WHILE WAITING TO SIGN IN TO WORK IN A BUILDING, HIS INJURY OCCURRED AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE AND WHILE HE WAS ENGAGED IN WORK INVOLVING A GRAVITY-RELATED RISK WITHIN THE MEANING OF LABOR LAW 240 (1) (FIRST DEPT))

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