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PLAINTIFF STEPPED INTO A TRENCH WHICH HAD BEEN FILLED WITH SOFT SOIL AND SANK DOWN TO ABOVE HIS KNEE; SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON PLAINTIFF’S LABOR LAW 240(1) CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the Labor Law 240(1) cause of action should have been granted. Plaintiff stepped into a trench that had been filled with soft soil and sank into the soil past his knee:

It is undisputed that no safety devices were provided to plaintiff to protect him against the gravity-related risk of descending a significant distance into the trench. Thus, plaintiff established prima facie his entitlement to partial summary judgment on the Labor Law § 240(1) claim … . The elevation differential between the ground level and the lower level to which plaintiff’s foot and leg sank is analogous to the risk that a worker standing on a platform on a body of water would fall into the water, which we have found to be covered by Labor Law § 240 … . Defendants failed to submit evidence that no safety devices could have prevented the accident … . Sunun v Klein, 2020 NY Slip Op 06471, First Dept 11-12-20

 

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PLAINTIFF HAD TO USE AN A-FRAME LADDER ON TOP OF A SCAFFOLD TO REACH THE WORK AREA; THE SCAFFOLD MOVED AND PLAINTIFF FELL TO THE GROUND; PLAINTIFF WAS ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION AND DEFENDANT WAS NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE LABOR LAW 241 (6) CAUSE OF ACTION (FIRST DEPT).
ALTHOUGH SUPREME COURT DID NOT ABUSE ITS DISCRETION WHEN IT GRANTED THE PEOPLE’S MOTION TO PREVENT THE TRANSFER OF THE ADOLESCENT OFFENDER’S CASE TO FAMILY COURT, MITIGATING FACTS AND THE LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE UNDERLYING THE “RAISE THE AGE” LEGISLATION WARRANTED INVOCATION OF THE COURT’S “INTEREST OF JUSTICE” JURISDICTION AND DENIAL OF THE PEOPLE’S MOTION (FIRST DEPT).
STANDING ON THE TOP STEP OF AN A FRAME LADDER WAS NOT THE SOLE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE PLAINTIFF’S FALL; SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE LABOR LAW 240(1) CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED.
NEITHER THE VICTIM WITNESS PROTECTION ACT NOR THE MANDATORY VICTIM RESTITUTION ACT PROVIDES A PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR A JUDGMENT BASED SOLELY UPON RESTITUTION ORDERED IN A CRIMINAL CASE (FIRST DEPT).
Question of Fact About Whether Managing Member Breached Fiduciary Duty Owed to Nonmanaging Member with Respect to Managing Member’s Alleged Reliance Upon an Outside Professional
Language in the Arbitration Agreement Supported the Applicability of the New York Law Reserving the Determination of a Statute of Limitations Defense to the Court, Even Though the Controlling Federal Arbitration Act Presumptively Reserves the Determination of a Statute of Limitations Defense to the Arbitrator
ALTHOUGH PLAINTIFF FELL OFF A LOADING DOCK WHILE WAITING TO SIGN IN TO WORK IN A BUILDING, HIS INJURY OCCURRED AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE AND WHILE HE WAS ENGAGED IN WORK INVOLVING A GRAVITY-RELATED RISK WITHIN THE MEANING OF LABOR LAW 240 (1) (FIRST DEPT).
Prior Ruling on Appeal is Law of the Case for Both Trial and Appellate Courts

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