Inga v. EBS North Hills, LLC

Summary

The court held that the plaintiff established entitlement to summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1) after falling when a scaffold supporting his ladder collapsed. The court further held that R&B Drywall Corporation was liable as a statutory agent of the owner or general contractor because it had authority to supervise and control the plaintiff’s work.

Holdings

1. The plaintiff established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment on liability because his affidavit and deposition testimony demonstrated that the ladder and scaffold failed to provide proper protection and that this failure was a proximate cause of his injuries.
2. An unwitnessed accident does not, by itself, preclude the plaintiff from obtaining summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1).
3. R and B Drywall Corporation was liable under Labor Law § 240(1) as a statutory agent because it had authority to supervise and control the particular work in which the plaintiff was engaged; it could not avoid liability by delegating that work to another entity.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1) based on evidence that the ladder and scaffold failed to provide proper protection and proximately caused his injuries.
2. Whether the fact that the accident was unwitnessed precluded summary judgment.
3. Whether R and B Drywall Corporation was liable as a statutory agent under Labor Law § 240(1), despite delegating the work to another entity.

Disposition

affirmed