PLAINTIFF WAS USING A CLOSED A-FRAME LADDER WHEN IT SLIPPED OUT FROM UNDER HIM; PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240(1) CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in this Labor Law 240(1) action should have been granted. Plaintiff was using a closed A-frame ladder when it slipped out from under him:

A worker’s decision to use an A-frame ladder in the closed position is not a per se reason to declare him the sole proximate cause of an accident,” and plaintiff here “gave a specific reason why he used the ladder in the closed position” … . Defendants also did not elicit any evidence that it would have been plaintiff’s “‘normal and logical response'” to use the taller ladder that they allege was available to plaintiff at the time of his accident … . Similarly, as for plaintiff’s putative recalcitrance, defendants failed to establish that, among other things: plaintiff knew that the taller ladder was available for his use; he was expected to use the taller ladder for his work; he “‘chose for no good reason not to do so'” … ; and, he refused to follow a specific instruction to use the taller ladder for his work … . Ultimately, “[d]efendants’ contentions would amount to, at most, comparative negligence, which is not a defense to a Labor Law § 240(1) violation … . Morales v 2400 Ryer Ave. Realty, LLC, 2021 NY Slip Op 00498, First Dept 1-28-21