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PLAINTIFF WAS INJURED ATTEMPTING TO HOLD BACK A HAND TRUCK WITH A 500 POUND LOAD AS HE WAS DESCENDING STAIRS; IT WAS POSSIBLE TO LOWER THE LOAD USING RIGGING IN AN ELEVATOR SHAFTWAY BUT PLAINTIFF WAS DIRECTED TO USE THE STAIRS; PLAINTIFF WAS PROPERLY AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department determined plaintiff was properly awarded summary judgment on his Labor Law 240 (1) cause of action. Plaintiff was injured trying to keep a hand truck from descending stairs too fast with a 500 pound load. The load could have been lowered with rigging equipment in an elevator shaftway but was directed to use the stairs:

Plaintiff was not provided with any hoisting equipment to use on the staircase and defendants had previously refused Dunwell’s [plaintiff’s employer’s] requests to bring equipment through the building’s lobby and down the shaftway of the lobby elevator, which was already outfitted with rigging equipment. Instead, defendants instructed Dunwell to bring their materials through the courtyard behind the building and down an exterior staircase to the basement. Plaintiff testified that he was holding the hand truck by the handles at the top, while his coworkers held it from the bottom to control its descent, and as the hand truck was going down the first step, one of the coworkers, a helper, “kind of let off the pressure” on his side of the hand truck, causing the hand truck to go down the first step “very fast,” which “jerked” plaintiff and caused him to slip on some dirt, gravel, or debris on the step. Plaintiff testified further that at that point he attempted to hold back the weight of the steel bedplate and stop the load’s descent. Plaintiff “yelled out a little bit” and the three workers rested for approximately 30 seconds, before continuing the descent down the stairs. All three workers rested at the bottom of the stairs before moving the bedplate into the building. During this break, plaintiff told his coworkers “I pulled my shoulder out and my back is killing me.” Agli v 21 E. 90 Apts. Corp., 2021 NY Slip Op 03540, First Dept 6-8-21

 

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