Supreme Court, King County's recent decision in Rivera v. Rite Lite Ltd. illustrates an interesting point regarding litigation within the context of Labor Law sec. 240(1). The plaintiff in this case claimed that he injured himself when he fell two stories from a scaffold. He claimed at a deposition that the scaffold moved while he was on top of it; the accident was unwitnessed. In support of summary judgment, the owner produced a workers' compensation document in which it stated that the plaintiff fell only two feet.
The Court rejected the plaintiff's argument that the discrepancy was not fatal to his sec. 240(1) claim because under either height he came within the statute's protection. The Court stated that an issue of fact existed because the discrepancy went to the plaintiff's credibility regarding the accident.
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