DeRosa v. Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Inc.

Summary

The court reversed an order granting the plaintiff partial summary judgment and denied his Labor Law § 240(1) claim while granting defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment. It held that the plaintiff’s injury, sustained while operating and attempting to climb a cement-mixing truck, did not arise from an elevation-related risk warranting the statute’s protections.

Holdings

1. Labor Law § 240(1) did not apply because plaintiff was not exposed to an elevation-related risk and his injury did not directly flow from the application of gravity's force to an object.
2. Defendants were entitled to summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's Labor Law § 240(1) cause of action, and plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment on liability was properly denied.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiff's injury arose from an elevation-related risk covered by Labor Law § 240(1).
2. Whether plaintiff was entitled to partial summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1).
3. Whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment dismissing the Labor Law § 240(1) claim.

Disposition

reversed