LADDER MOVED FOR NO APPARENT REASON, PLAINTIFF ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) ACTION (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department determined plaintiff’s summary judgment motion on his Labor Law 240 (1) action was properly granted. Plaintiff alleged the ladder he was standing on suddenly moved:
Plaintiff established his entitlement to partial summary judgment on the Labor Law § 240(1) claim through his testimony that he was caused to fall to the ground when the unsecured ladder on which he was standing suddenly shifted and kicked out from underneath him … .
Defendants’ opposition failed to raise a triable issue of fact. None of coworkers who provided affidavits actually witnessed plaintiff fall from the ladder, and they did not contradict his testimony that the ladder suddenly moved. Although defendants also submitted an unsworn accident report containing a statement from a coworker that plaintiff lost his balance and fell, this did not contradict plaintiff’s consistent testimony that he fell because the ladder suddenly moved… .. Furthermore, defendants’ reliance on O’Brien v Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J. (29 NY3d 27 [2017]) is misplaced because that case, which found an issue of fact about whether a slippery exterior staircase provided adequate protection to the plaintiff, left intact the presumption that Labor Law § 240(1) is violated where, as here, a ladder collapses or malfunctions for no apparent reason … . Rom v Eurostruct, Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 01262, First Dept 2-22-18
LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW (LADDER MOVED FOR NO APPARENT REASON, PLAINTIFF ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) ACTION (FIRST DEPT))/LADDERS (LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW, LADDER MOVED FOR NO APPARENT REASON, PLAINTIFF ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) ACTION (FIRST DEPT))