Barzaghi v. Maislin Transport

115 A.D.2d 679, 497 N.Y.S.2d 131, 1985 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 55145
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedDecember 30, 1985
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 115 A.D.2d 679 (Barzaghi v. Maislin Transport) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barzaghi v. Maislin Transport, 115 A.D.2d 679, 497 N.Y.S.2d 131, 1985 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 55145 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinions

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, plaintiff appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County [680]*680(Mirabile, J.), dated July 11, 1983, as dismissed his seventh and eighth causes of action at the close of the entire case and dismissed his first and fourth causes of action upon a jury verdict in favor of the defendant.

Judgment affirmed, insofar as appealed from, with costs.

The plaintiff, a truck driver for Mars Trailer Transport Co., was injured on March 15, 1979, while making a delivery of cartons to the receiving platform of defendant’s warehouse in Kearney, New Jersey. The complaint alleged, inter alia, that (1) the plaintiff, while "carefully utilizing a ladder for egress from one of the bays”, fell to the ground and suffered injuries to his foot and (2) the defendant was negligent in furnishing a defective and unsafe ladder to plaintiff, which caused his injuries.

On the instant appeal, the plaintiff argues, inter alia, that the jury’s verdict in favor of the defendant must be reversed and a new trial granted as to his first and fourth causes of action due to several erroneous evidentiary rulings by the trial court. Specifically, the plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in (1) ruling that his expert’s testimony regarding certain regulations of the Federal Occupational Safety Health Administration (hereinafter OSHA) was inadmissible and instructing the jury to disregard this testimony and (2) admitting into evidence a portion of plaintiff’s hospital chart, wherein the plaintiff indicated that "he fell off a loading platform”.

We disagree with those arguments of the plaintiff.

Turning to the issue of the admissibility of the plaintiff’s expert’s testimony regarding the OSHA regulations, the record indicates that during the introductory testimony of the plaintiff’s expert, the latter testified that he had written articles, papers and books concerning occupational safety standards. Plaintiff’s counsel then asked the expert: "Is that OSHA that we made reference to?” At that point, the defendant’s counsel requested a bench conference outside the presence of the jury and during the course thereof, moved to preclude the expert witness from testifying about any OSHA regulations. Specifically, the defendant’s counsel argued that "OSHA deals with an employer-employee relationship and sets standards with employers with regard to his [sic] employees”. Since the plaintiff was not an employee of the defendant, but only its invitee, defendant’s counsel argued that "there [was] no relationship amongst the parties as to allow OSHA [regulations] to be offered as a standard in which the employer [681]*681is to be held to”. The trial court ruled that the question posed by plaintiffs attorney only concerned the expert’s qualifications, i.e., his contributions to the promulgation of OSHA regulations, and that, therefore, the objection by defendant’s counsel was premature. After the jury returned, the plaintiffs expert explained what was meant by an OSHA regulation, i.e., "a federal regulation adopted by the United States Department of Labor” which is applicable to all the States, and also explained the nature and function of the American National Standards Institute (hereinafter ANSI), which he had referred to earlier in his testimony. With respect to the latter, the plaintiffs expert testified that ANSI was: "an organization here in the City of New York. It’s a national organization. Headquarters, 1430 Broadway. They formed, have committees formed of experts in various fields to promulgate standards of safety or specifications and what have you. These standards, once they are drafted, they are submitted to the public for review and comment, and if there are no deficiencies in the standard [sic] they are put before the ANSI Board and considered for adoption, and if adopted become a [sic] national standard [sic] for the industry of that particular subject”.

Thereafter, the plaintiff’s expert testified that the ladder used by plaintiff had rungs which were "above the floor of the loading platform”. The plaintiff’s expert was then allowed to testify, over objection by defendant’s counsel, that OSHA had promulgated safety standards relative to the type of ladder used by the plaintiff, and that the ladder used by the plaintiff violated OSHA regulations since: "Federal OSHA regulations state that there will be no rung above the level of the floor you are ascending to and [the] last rung in the ladder as you reach the elevation should be in line with the floor which in this case it is not. The side rail and ladder should be widened out the minimum width of two feet, in addition, the width approximately 3 feet, so the person can step on the last rung and pass between the side rail of the ladder so they[sic] do not lose their [sic] balance when gaining access or egress from the ladder”.

The plaintiff’s expert also testified that the design of the ladder supplied by defendant and used by plaintiff also violated the standards promulgated by ANSI for the same reasons. Finally, the following hypothetical question was asked of the expert by plaintiff’s counsel, and the following answer was given:

"Q. Assume that, sir, and this was back in April 15, 1979, that Mr. Barzaghi started to descend and as he reached over [682]*682to descend that ladder and reached down with his left hand and then placed his left foot on the rung which is a little below the floor of the platform, that he lost his balance and fell about five feet down to the debris-laden ground which would be below the ladder.

"Assume all those facts to be true, sir, do you have an opinion with a reasonable engineering certainty as to whether the ladder in question was in compliance with safety standards as set forth in the OSHA regulations and the National Safety Code back in 1979?

"A. I have an opinion * * *

"Number one, the ladder depicted in these photographs did not conform to OSHA’s standard for fixed ladder or pass-through type nor did they [sic] comply with the American National Standards Institute standard A-14 for pass-through ladders in that it had rungs above the floor level. The rungs, the side rails are, apparently, less than three and a half feet high * * *

"I stated that there are rungs above the loading dock level. The upper level and the ladder rung that you were intended to step on, when you step from the upper loading dock level, is below the level of the loading dock. Both of these are violations of the safety standards for the design of the ladder”.

Prior to the cross-examination of the plaintiff’s expert, the defendant’s attorney requested, inter alia, that the trial court instruct the jury, in accordance with a decision of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Barrera v Du Pont De Nemours & Co. (653 F2d 915, reh denied 661 F2d 931), to disregard the testimony of the plaintiff’s expert regarding OSHA regulations, on the ground that OSHA regulations only created duties between employers and their employees, and not between employers and their invitees. The trial court noted that the legal argument of the defendant’s counsel was "tenable”, and also advised the plaintiff’s counsel that the plaintiff’s bill of particulars was totally devoid of any reference to a violation of OSHA regulations.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Losurdo v. Tutor Perini Corp.
2026 NY Slip Op 30888(U) (New York Supreme Court, New York County, 2026)
Flores v. Infrastructure Repair Service, LLC
52 Misc. 3d 664 (New York Supreme Court, 2015)
Weinberg v. Remyco, Inc.
9 A.D.3d 425 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)
In re Nationwide Mutual Insurance v. McMillan
288 A.D.2d 224 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2001)
Rodriguez v. Port Authority
243 A.D.2d 394 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1997)
Jemmott v. Rockwell Manufacturing Co.
216 A.D.2d 444 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1995)
Kent Village Associates Joint Venture v. Smith
657 A.2d 330 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1995)
Alesse v. Valley Stream Central High School District 13
202 A.D.2d 326 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1994)
Pioli v. Morgan Guaranty Trust Co.
199 A.D.2d 144 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1993)
Gilliam v. City of New York
187 A.D.2d 700 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1992)
Badr v. Hogan
153 A.D.2d 826 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1989)
People v. Seiler
139 A.D.2d 832 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
115 A.D.2d 679, 497 N.Y.S.2d 131, 1985 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 55145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barzaghi-v-maislin-transport-nyappdiv-1985.