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PLAINTIFF WAS CROUCHING DOWN MARKING THE FLOOR WITH DUCT TAPE WHEN A LADDER FELL OVER AND STRUCK HIM; PLAINTIFF WAS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS LABOR LAW 240(1) ACTION (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the defense motion for judgment for summary judgment in this Labor Law 240(1) action should not have been granted and plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment should have been granted. Plaintiff was crouching down marking off areas of the floor with duct tape when an ladder fell over and struck him, causing him to lose consciousness:

The elevation differential involved here cannot be described as de minimis … . The evidence also established that the ladder was not adequately secured for the purposes of the undertaking … .

… [P]laintiff established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment through his deposition testimony that he was struck by a ladder that was not properly secured. … [I]t was foreseeable for a ladder resting against a wall to topple over and strike a nearby worker. Nor could a worker knocking over the ladder be considered an intervening superseding cause in this case … . Silva v 770 Broadway Owner LLC, 2025 NY Slip Op 00299, First Dept 1-21-25

Practice Point: Here plaintiff was marking the floor with duct tape when a ladder which had been leaning against a wall fell over and struck him. It was foreseeable that an unsecured ladder could fall over. If a worker knocked it over, that would be foreseeable as well and would not be a superseding cause.

 

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