Losing Balance On Ladder Did Not Support Labor Law 240(1) Cause of Action

Plaintiff was standing on the second highest rung of a ladder when he lost his balance and fell.  In reversing Supreme Court’s grant of summary judgment to the plaintiff on his Labor Law 240(1) cause of action, the Second Department explained:

” Labor Law § 240(1) imposes upon owners and general contractors, and their agents, a nondelegable duty to provide safety devices necessary to protect workers from risks inherent in elevated work sites'” … . ” To prevail on a cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240(1), a plaintiff must establish that the statute was violated and that the violation was a proximate cause of his or her injuries'” .. . “The mere fact that a plaintiff fell from a ladder does not, in and of itself, establish that proper protection was not provided” … . There must be evidence that the ladder was defective or inadequately secured and that the defect, or the failure to secure the ladder, was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s injuries … . Where a plaintiff falls off the ladder because he or she lost his or her balance, and there is no evidence that the ladder from which the plaintiff fell was defective or inadequate, liability pursuant to Labor Law § 240(1) does not attach … . To impose liability under such circumstances would make a defendant an insurer of the workplace, a result which the Legislature never intended in enacting Labor Law § 240(1) … .  Hugo v Sarantakos, 2013 NY Slip Op 05512, 2nd Dept 7-31-13