New York Court of Appeals' Hears Oral Argument on Scaffold Law This Session

New York Civil Law posted about Affri v. Basch earlier this year.  The appeal will be argued this Session.  The Appellate Division decision does not reveal much as to what the novel issue concerns.  As what can be discerned from the terse Appellate Division decision, the issue surrounds the homeowner's exception to Labor Law sec. 240(1).  Affri seems to concern whether the homeowners' aesthetic decisions and general supervisory work regarding the project precluded them from enjoying the homeowner's exception.  When the Court's argument summaries are released, I'll write more about this appeal.

Comments

[Joshua Brian Irwin]

I'm the original Plaintiff's attorney on this case and I handled the appeal at the appellate division. The issue for the Court of Appeals is what extent of involvement rises to the level of direction and control. In Mr. Affri's case he was instructed by the homeowner, over his objection, to vent the dryer through the roof rather than through the window. If the dryer had been vented through the window, as he had requested, he would not have been exposed to the falling hazard of accessing the roof alone.