Summary
The New York Appellate Division affirmed an order denying defendants’ motion for summary judgment and granting plaintiffs partial summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1). The court held that the plaintiff’s uncontroverted testimony that the ladder shifted established that it was not properly placed and that defendants’ statutory violation proximately caused his injuries. Evidence that the ladder was structurally sound did not create a triable issue regarding its placement.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether plaintiffs were entitled to partial summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240 (1) based on uncontroverted testimony that the ladder shifted.
- Whether defendants raised a triable issue of fact by submitting evidence that the ladder was structurally sound and not defective.
- Whether plaintiff was the sole proximate cause of his injuries.
Holdings
- Plaintiffs were entitled to partial summary judgment on liability because their uncontroverted testimony established that the ladder shifted and was not placed so as to provide proper protection, and defendants' statutory violation was a proximate cause of the injuries.
- Plaintiff was not solely to blame for his injuries because defendants' Labor Law § 240 (1) violation was a proximate cause of the accident.
- Defendants failed to raise a triable issue of fact because evidence that the ladder was structurally sound and not defective was irrelevant to whether it was properly placed.
Key quotations
“Plaintiff met his initial burden by submitting his uncontroverted deposition testimony in which he testified that [the] ladder shifted, thus establishing as a matter of law that it was not so placed . . . as to give proper protection to plaintiff” (63 A.D.3d at 1621)
“The evidence submitted by defendants establishing “that the ladder was structurally sound and not defective is not relevant on the issue of whether it was properly placed”” (63 A.D.3d at 1621)
Factual background
Plaintiff was painting a commercial building when he fell approximately eleven feet from a ladder to the ground. He testified without contradiction that the ladder shifted. The court concluded that the ladder was not placed to provide proper protection and that defendants' Labor Law § 240 (1) violation proximately caused plaintiff's injuries.
Procedural history
Plaintiff brought an action for injuries sustained after falling approximately eleven feet from a ladder while painting a commercial building. The Supreme Court, Monroe County, denied defendants' summary judgment motion and granted plaintiffs partial summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240 (1). The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed.