Labor Law 241(6) Claim Should Not Have Been Dismissed—Although Claimant Did Not Perform “Labor-Intense Aspects of the Project” His Finance-Related Job Entailed On-Site Inspections

The First Department determined plaintiff’s Labor Law 241(6) claim should not have been dismissed.  Although plaintiff did not perform labor, his finance-related job required that he inspect the work site.  Plaintiff tripped and fell while doing an inspection:

Plaintiff’s Labor Law § 241(6) claim was improperly dismissed on the ground that plaintiff was not covered under the statute. Plaintiff testified that he was an onsite project manager, employed by one of multiple general contractors on the subject construction project, whose job pertained to financial issues such as billing of subcontractors and revenue projections for the project. He testified that he tripped and fell in a vestibule he was walking through, intending to conduct a visual inspection of a condition alleged … to support a back charge for “additional work,” in order to determine whether this claim was substantiated. Thus, plaintiff was not merely working in a building that happened to be under construction … . Rather, his job duties, including the inspection he was conducting at the time of the accident, were contemporaneous with and related to ongoing work on the construction project … . Thus, plaintiff was covered under the statute even though he did not perform the “labor-intense aspects of the project” … .  DeSimone v City of New York, 2014 NY Slip Op 06667, 1st Dept 10-2-14