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THE FOLD-DOWN LADDER WHICH WAS PERMANENTLY ATTACHED TO THE CEILING WAS THE FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT OF A LADDER FOR GAINING ACCESS TO THE ATTIC; PLAINTIFF FELL WHEN THE LADDER DETACHED FROM THE CEILING; PLAINTIFF IS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE LABOR LAW 240(1) AND 241(6) CAUSES OF ACTION (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor :Law 240(1) and 241(6) causes of action. Plaintiff needed to access the attic using a fold-down ladder which was permanently attached to the ceiling. The ladder came loose from the ceiling and plaintiff fell to the floor:

​… [T]he plaintiff described the ladder as “a type of stairs that are up on the attic and you pull them” with a rope, and the stairs would unfold and extend to the floor to allow someone to climb up them. The plaintiff acknowledged that the pull-down attic stairs were permanently affixed to the ceiling, but he also testified that climbing the pull-down attic stairs was the only way to access the attic, which he was required to access to connect certain cables to a security camera. * * *

… [T]he pull-down attic stairs, in effect, operated as a safety device within the meaning of Labor Law § 240(1) … , since the pull-down attic stairs served as the functional equivalent of a ladder at the time of the accident … . The plaintiff’s testimony that the pull-down attic stairs detached from the ceiling and fell as he was ascending them, causing him to fall, demonstrated, prima facie, that the defendants violated Labor Law § 240(1) and that this violation proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries … . …

To establish liability under Labor Law § 241(6), a plaintiff must demonstrate that his or her injuries were proximately caused by a violation of an Industrial Code provision mandating compliance with concrete specifications …  Pursuant to 12 NYCRR 23-1.21(b)(1), “[e]very ladder shall be capable of sustaining without breakage, dislodgment or loosening of any component at least four times the maximum load intended to be placed thereon.” Here, given the plaintiff’s testimony that the pull-down attic stairs fell as he was ascending them, the plaintiff established, prima facie, that the defendants violated 12 NYCRR 23-1.21(b)(1) … . Jaimes-Gutierrez v 37 Raywood Dr., LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 06187, Second Dept 12-11-24

Practice Point: Although the fold-down stairs to the attic were permanently attached to the ceiling, it it was the functional equivalent of a ladder and served as a safety device within the meaning of Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6).

 

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