FALL FROM A FOLDED, UNSECURED A-FRAME LADDER AFTER PLAINTIFF RECEIVED AN ELECTRIC SHOCK ENTITLED PLAINTIFF TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION, SUPREME COURT REVERSED, TWO-JUSTICE DISSENT (FIRST DEPT). ​

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, over a two-justice dissent, determined plaintiff, who fell from a folded, unsecured A-frame ladder after receiving an electric shock, was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law 240 (1) cause of action. The majority distinguished a Court of Appeals decision involving a properly opened and locked A-frame ladder which fell over when plaintiff was shocked:

The “safety device” provided to plaintiff was an unsecured and unsupported A-frame ladder that was inadequate to perform the assigned task. The ladder could not be opened or locked while plaintiff was performing his task, and the only way plaintiff could gain access to his work area on the ceiling at the end of the room was by folding up the ladder and leaning it against the wall. It is undisputed that the ladder was not anchored to the floor or wall. There were no other safety devices provided to plaintiff. Plaintiff’s expert opined that had the ladder been supported or secured to the floor or wall by anchoring, it would have remained stable when plaintiff was shocked. He further opined that given the nature of plaintiff’s work, which involved cutting pipes and the use of hand tools at an elevated height, plaintiff should have been furnished with a more stable device such as a Baker scaffold or a man lift. …

The fact that the fall was precipitated by an electric shock does not change this fact. This case is distinguishable from Nazario v 222 Broadway, LLC (28 NY3d 1054 [2016]), relied on by the dissent. The plaintiff in Nazario fell while “holding the ladder, which remained in an open locked position when it landed” … . Thus, there was no evidence that the ladder was defective or that another safety device was needed. Here, on the other hand, it is undisputed that the ladder provided was not fully open and locked, nor was it otherwise secured, as plaintiff’s expert opined it ought to have been. Cutaia v Board of Mgrs. of the Varick St. Condominium, 2019 NY Slip Op 03458, First Dept 5-1-19