In this case, the Second Department affirmed the Supreme Court order granting summary judgment in favor of the general contractor and dismissing the plaintiff's causes of action based on common-law negligence and violation of Labor Law sections 200 and 240(1). The plaintiff was an employee of a subcontractor who was cleaning furnace ducts. He allegedly sustained injuries when he stepped into a septic pump hole in the defendant owner's basement while inspecting the heat ducts.
The Court held Supreme Court properly dismissed the plaintiff's common-law negligence and section 200 causes of action because the general contractor established (1) it exercised no supervision and control over the plaintiff's work; and (2) had no notice of the septic pump hole into which the plaintiff fell.
On the section 240(1) claim, the Court agreed that the statute did not apply because the worksite was at ground level, and that the plaintiff was not working on a ladder or at an elevated job site. In denying the section 240(1) claim, the Court cited Wells v. British Am. Dev. Corp., 2 A.D.2d 1141 (3d Dep't 2003) (holding that [t]he fact that levels or floors may exist below the work surface does not, by itself, compel the conclusion that the work surface is an elevated one under section 240(1) ).
Search Terms:
Labor Law 200; supervision, control, notice
Labor Law 240(1); ground level
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