PLAINTIFF’S LABOR LAW 240(1) AND 241(6) CAUSES OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED; PLAINTIFF FELL ATTEMPTING TO USE AN INVERTED BUCKET TO STEP UP TO AN ELEVATED PLATFORM (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6) causes of action should not have been dismissed. Plaintiff fell attempting to use an inverted bucket to access an elevated platform:
The protection of Labor Law § 240(1) encompasses plaintiff[‘s] … fall while trying to access an elevated work platform by stepping up onto an inverted bucket, an inadequate safety device that failed to provide proper protection … . Moreover, defendants failed to cite any evidence rebutting the affidavit by plaintiff’s foreman stating that stairs or other access points to the work platform were either restricted or blocked by materials. Because no safety devices were available to plaintiff to access the platform, as a matter of fact and law, plaintiff’s attempt to use the inverted bucket cannot be the sole proximate cause of his accident … .
Because no stairways, ramps, or runaways were available to plaintiff to access the platform, he was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law § 241(6) claim predicated upon Industrial Code (12 NYCRR) § 23-1.7(f) … . Ferguson v Durst Pyramid, LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 09388, First Dept 12-26-19
