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SUPREME COURT HAD RULED THAT, AT THE TIME HE WAS STRUCK BY A FALLING OBJECT, PLAINTIFF WAS NOT ENGAGED IN A TASK COVERED BY THE LABOR LAW; PLAINTIFF’S TASK AT THE EXACT MOMENT OF THE ACCIDENT IS NOT DISPOSITIVE; THE LABOR LAW COVERS ALL TASKS NECESSARY AND INCIDENTAL TO THE RELEVANT WORK, HERE THE REMOVAL OF DEBRIS FROM THE WORKSITE (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s activities were within the scope of the Labor Law when he was struck by a falling object. Plaintiff was struck when returning to the truck he had just moved. Defendants successfully argued below that, at the time of his injury, plaintiff was not engaged in work covered by the Labor Law. The First Department disagreed:

Plaintiff was injured when an object, alleged to be a pallet or a skid, fell on his head while he was working as a garbage truck driver at an active construction site owned by defendant MIP One Wall Street Acquisition LLC and where defendant J.T. Magen & Company Inc. was the general contractor. Plaintiff’s employer, Independence Carting, had contracted with J.T. Magen to perform Saturday carting services at the site. Plaintiff drove the garbage truck to the loading area where J.T. Magen laborers tasked with debris removal at the construction site loaded construction debris onto the truck while plaintiff operated the truck’s compacting machinery. J.T. Magen laborers directed plaintiff to move the garbage truck to another location in the loading dock area for additional construction debris to be loaded. At this second location, plaintiff exited the truck to check its position. When returning to the truck he was hit on the head by an object alleged to be a pallet or skid that fell from an elevated platform adjacent to plaintiff’s truck.

Plaintiff’s task at the exact moment of his accident is not dispositive of whether he was engaged in a protected activity … . “Rather, the inquiry includes whether the plaintiff’s employer was contracted to perform the kind of work enumerated in the statutes . . . and whether the plaintiff was performing work ‘necessary and incidental to’ a protected activity” … . Here, plaintiff was performing construction debris removal services at the construction site pursuant to a contract between J.T. Magen and his employer. The record establishes that the work he was performing was necessary and incidental to construction-related cleaning for an active construction site … . Therefore, plaintiff was protected by the Labor Law. Lapinski v MIP One Wall St. Acquisition LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op 03392, First Dept 6-2-26

Practice Point: The exact task performed by a worker at the time of an accident is not dispositive of whether the accident is within the scope of the Labor Law. Here plaintiff’s employer was hired by the general contractor to remove debris from a worksite. The fact that the plaintiff was struck by a falling object after moving a truck at the request of employees of the general contractor did not take the accident out of the scope of the Labor Law.

 

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