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THE HOMEOWNERS EXERCISED NO SUPERVISORY CONTROL OVER THE INJURY-CAUSING WORK IN THIS LABOR LAW 200 AND NEGLIGENCE CASE; THE CASE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANALYZED AS A “MEANS AND METHODS OF WORK” ACTION, NOT A “CREATE OR HAVE NOTICE OF A DANGEROUS CONDITION” ACTION; THE HOMEOWNERS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the Labor Law 200 and negligence causes of action against the homeowners should have been dismissed because the homeowners did not exercise any supervisory control over plaintiff’s work. The hole into which plaintiff fell was dug as part of the construction project. Supreme Court should not have analyzed the case using a “create or have notice of a dangerous condition” theory:

Plaintiff was injured when he fell into a hole dug by employees of codefendant Apex Construction/Masonry Corp. (Apex) in the backyard of Homeowner Defendants’ home during renovation of the premises. The hole was created for the purpose of building the foundation for a deck. Homeowner Defendants hired nonparty IA Construction Management Inc. as the general contractor, which subcontracted out part of the work to Apex; plaintiff was an employee of IA Construction.

Here, plaintiff’s accident arose from the means and methods of Apex’s work, not a defective premises condition. Thus, the dispositive issue is whether the Homeowner Defendants had authority to exercise supervisory control over the injury-producing work, not whether they created or had notice of the hazardous condition … . The record establishes, as a matter of law, that they had no such authority. It is undisputed that Homeowner Defendants lived offsite during the renovation project and had no involvement with the work, and Apex’s owner testified that the homeowners did not direct or control Apex’s work … . Tsongas v Apex Constr./Masonry Corp., 2020 NY Slip Op 07520, First Dept 12-15-20

 

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