Bravo v. RPH Hotels 51st St. Owner, LLC

2024 NY Slip Op 32970(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedAugust 23, 2024
DocketIndex No. 159445/2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2024 NY Slip Op 32970(U) (Bravo v. RPH Hotels 51st St. Owner, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court, New York County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bravo v. RPH Hotels 51st St. Owner, LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 32970(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

Opinion

Bravo v RPH Hotels 51st St. Owner, LLC 2024 NY Slip Op 32970(U) August 23, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 159445/2019 Judge: David B. Cohen Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. INDEX NO. 159445/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 235 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/23/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. DAVID B. COHEN PART 58 Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 159445/2019 SEGUNDO BRAVO, 06/20/2023, Plaintiff, 06/28/2023, MOTION DATE 04/25/2024 -v- MOTION SEQ. NO. 005 007 008 RPH HOTELS 51ST STREET OWNER, LLC, LHOTSE CONTRACTING CORP., LHOTSE CORP., INTERSYSTEM INSTALLATION CORP., DECISION + ORDER ON MOTION Defendants. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

INTERSYSTEM INSTALLATION CORP. Third-Party Index No. 595282/2020 Plaintiff,

-against-

GERALD FAST SYSTEM CORP.

Defendant. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

LHOTSE CONTRACTING CORP., LHOTSE CORP. Second Third-Party Index No. 595083/2021 Plaintiffs,

INTERSYSTEM S&S CORP., GERALD FAST SYSTEM CORP.

Defendants. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 005) 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 191, 195, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT - SUMMARY .

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 007) 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 192, 193 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT - SUMMARY .

159445/2019 BRAVO, SEGUNDO vs. RPH HOTELS 51ST STREET Page 1 of 12 Motion No. 005 007 008

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The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 008) 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232 were read on this motion to/for SUMMARY JUDGMENT(AFTER JOINDER .

This action arises from an accident which took place on December 11, 2018, in which

plaintiff was allegedly injured while at work on a sidewalk bridge. Plaintiff began this action on

September 27, 2019, alleging that defendant RPH Hotels 51st Street Owner, LLC, owner of the

building around which the sidewalk bridge was built, its contractor, Lhotse Contracting Corp.,

and subcontractor Intersystem Installation Corp., are liable for violations of Sections 200, 240,

and 241(6) of New York’s Labor Law. Motion sequence number 005, 007, and 008 are

consolidated herein for disposition.

In motion sequence 005, RPH moves for an order granting it summary judgment on its

contractual indemnity claim against Lhotse. Lhotse opposes.

In motion sequence 007, Lhotse moves for an order granting it summary judgment on its

second third-party complaint and awarding it contractual indemnity against Intersystem and a

default judgment against Gerald Fast System Corp.

In motion sequence 008, Intersystem moves for an order dismissing plaintiff’s complaint

and Lhotse’s third-party complaint against it. Lhotse opposes.

Background

RPH is and, at all relevant times, was the owner of the building located at 851 8th

Avenue in Manhattan, which it was developing as a Hampton Inn hotel (the Premises)

(complaint ¶1 [NYSCEF Doc No. 1] ¶¶9-10). On or before December 11, 2018, RPH hired

defendant Lhotse, doing business under the name Trident Contracting (Lhotse/Trident), to

perform roofing repair work at the Premises (RPH Statement of Material Facts ¶¶2-3 [NYSCEF

Doc No. 147]).

159445/2019 BRAVO, SEGUNDO vs. RPH HOTELS 51ST STREET Page 2 of 12 Motion No. 005 007 008

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Plaintiff alleges that, on or about December 11, 2018, while he was employed as a laborer

by Lhotse/Trident’s subcontractor, Intersystem, he was struck by a wooden plank while

dismantling a scaffold bridge surrounding the Premises, which knocked him to the ground and

caused him severe injuries (see complaint ¶¶17-25; Plaintiff deposition tr at 12:17-13:6, 16:21-

17:13, 18:7-11 [NYSCEF Doc No. 158]).

RPH’s corporate representative testified at a deposition that RPH contracted with

Lhotse/Trident to perform roof repair at the Premises and to hire any subcontractors it needed to

complete the job, specifically stating that they “hired Trident to run the project” (affirmation of

Matthew G. Corcoran, Esq. [Corcoran affirmation] [NYSCEF Doc No. 146] ¶11, citing Timothy

Dowd deposition tr [Dowd tr] [NYSCEF Doc No. 159] at 8, 10, 12 and 18). RPH denied that it

supervised any work performed in connection with the project (id. ¶12, citing Dowd tr at 11, 34).

At his deposition, Intersystem’s corporate representative stated that Intersystem hired

third-party defendant Gerald as its subcontractor to dismantle the sidewalk bridge and thus, at the

time of his accident, plaintiff was employed by Gerald (id. ¶17, citing Michael Badzio deposition

tr [Badzio tr] [NYSCEF Doc No. 161] at 10, 27 and 30-31).

The pertinent contracts provide as follows:

The main Contract (Prime Contract), written on an AIA standard form1 between RPH, as

“Owner,” and Lhotse/Trident, as “Contractor,” for “Roof Replacement” at the Premises,

provides that:

“§ 9.15.1 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Contractor shall indemnify and hold harmless Owner, Architect, Architect’s consultants, and the parties listed in Exhibit F hereto and agents and employees of any of them from and against all claims, damages, losses and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees,

1 “AIA” is an acronym for the American Institute of Architects (see https://www.aia.org). It publishes form agreements and exhibits for use by architects, contractors, building owners, and consultants (see https://aiacontracts.com). 159445/2019 BRAVO, SEGUNDO vs. RPH HOTELS 51ST STREET Page 3 of 12 Motion No. 005 007 008

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to the extent arising out of or resulting from (i) Contractor’s wrongful acts or omissions in connection with the performance of the Work, (ii) breach of this Agreement by Contractor, and (iii) negligence by Contractor or its Subcontractors, regardless of whether or not such claim, damage, loss or expense is caused in part by a party indemnified hereunder. Such obligation shall not be construed to negate, abridge, or reduce other rights or obligations which would otherwise exist as to a party or person described in this Section 9.15.1.

§ 9.15.2 In claims against any person or entity indemnified under this Section 9.15 by an employee of the Contractor, a Subcontractor, anyone directly or indirectly employed by them or anyone for whose acts they may be liable, the indemnification obligation under Section 9.15.1 shall not be limited by a limitation on the amount or types of damages, compensation or benefits payable by or for the Contractor or Subcontractor under workers’ compensation acts, disability benefits acts or other employee benefit acts.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2024 NY Slip Op 32970(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bravo-v-rph-hotels-51st-st-owner-llc-nysupctnewyork-2024.