Lopez v. Dagan

98 A.D.3d 436, 949 N.Y.S.2d 671

This text of 98 A.D.3d 436 (Lopez v. Dagan) 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
Lopez v. Dagan, 98 A.D.3d 436, 949 N.Y.S.2d 671 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Orders, Supreme Court, New York County (Joan A. Madden, J.), entered on or about April 12, 2011 and April 19, 2011, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, in an action for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff when the temporary floor on which he was working collapsed, granted defendant owners’ motion for summary judgment to the extent of dismissing plaintiffs Labor Law §§ 240 (1) and 241 (6) claims as against them, and denied the motion with respect to plaintiffs Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence claims, granted defendant engineer’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims as against it, and denied plaintiffs cross motion for leave to serve an amended bill of particulars, and for partial summary judgment as to li[437]*437ability on his sections 240 (1) and 241 (6) claims, modified, on the law, to dismiss plaintiffs section 200 and common-law negligence claims as against the owners, and otherwise affirmed, without costs. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment dismissing the complaint as against defendant owners Rafael Dagan and Jacklin Dagan.

The owners made a prima facie showing of their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law under the homeowner’s exemption of Labor Law §§ 240 (1) and 241 (6). It is undisputed that the sole purpose of the construction work was to convert a multiple dwelling into a one-family dwelling for the owners’ use (Stejskal v Simons, 3 NY3d 628, 629 [2004]). The owners also submitted evidence, including their contract with the general contractor and deposition testimony, showing that they did not direct or control the work at issue (see Affri v Basch, 13 NY3d 592, 595-596 [2009]; Chowdhury v Rodriguez, 57 AD3d 121, 126-127 [2008]). Plaintiffs evidence that the owners hired the contractors and visited the work site regularly failed to raise an issue of fact as to whether they directed or controlled the work (see Chowdhury, 57 AD3d at 127; Jenkins v Jones, 255 AD2d 805, 806 [1998]).

The engineer made a prima facie showing that it did not have the authority to direct, supervise or control the injury-producing work, and thus was not liable as an agent of the owners under Labor Law §§ 240 (1) and 241 (6). Indeed, the engineer’s contract with the owners provided that it did not have control over, and was not responsible for, “any construction means, methods, procedures, temporary structures or work.” In response, plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact. The engineer’s contractual duty to visit the site “at periodic intervals” to determine if construction was in accordance with plans and specifications, is insufficient by itself to hold the engineer liable under Labor Law §§ 240 (1) and 241 (6), and there is no evidence otherwise to indicate that the engineer had the authority to direct or control the work at issue (see Carter v Vollmer Assoc., 196 AD2d 754 [1993]; Sikorski v Springbrook Fire Dist. of Town of Elma, 225 AD2d 1041 [1996]).

To support his Labor Law § 241 (6) claims, plaintiff cross-moved for leave to amend his bill of particulars to add provisions of the Industrial Code and Administrative Code of the City of New York. Because plaintiffs section 241 (6) claims were properly dismissed, the court properly denied leave to amend as moot.

The court, however, should have dismissed plaintiffs Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence claims as against the [438]*438owners. With respect to plaintiffs claim pursuant to Labor Law § 200, the owners made a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting evidence that plaintiffs accident was caused by the means and methods employed by the general contractor, namely, the improper installation of a temporary floor, and that they had no supervisory control over the operation (see Comes v New York State Elec. & Gas Corp., 82 NY2d 876, 877 [1993]; Lombardi v Stout, 80 NY2d 290, 295 [1992]). In response, plaintiff failed to raise an issue of fact. To the extent that plaintiffs injuries arose from a dangerous condition on the premises, which under the common law the owners were duty-bound to guard against, the owners established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment on plaintiffs common-law negligence claim by proffering evidence that they neither created the accident-causing condition (Wasserstrom v New York City Tr. Auth., 267 AD2d 36, 37 [1999], lv denied 94 NY2d 761 [2000]; Allen v Pearson Publ. Empire, 256 AD2d 528, 529 [1998]; Kraemer v K-Mart Corp., 226 AD2d 590 [1996]), nor had prior notice, actual or constructive, of it (Piacquadio v Recine Realty Corp., 84 NY2d 967, 969 [1994]; Bogart v Woolworth Co., 24 NY2d 936, 937 [1969]; Irizarry v 15 Mosholu Four, LLC, 24 AD3d 373 [2005]). In response, plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact, and summary judgment in favor of the owners was thus warranted.

The dissent argues that the record here raises an issue of fact with respect to notice such that the owners should not be granted summary judgment on plaintiffs common-law negligence or Labor Law § 200 claim. We disagree. The pertinent issue here is whether there is any evidence that the owners had actual or constructive notice of any structural deficiency of the temporary floor. The record is bereft of any evidence that prior to this accident the owners were ever actually aware that the floor was improperly installed or structurally deficient. Nothing in the record indicates that the floor, when viewed and stood upon, appeared or felt compromised. Accordingly, there is no evidence that the owners had actual notice. Nor is there any evidence that they had constructive notice. A defendant is charged with constructive notice of a defective condition when the condition is visible, apparent, and exists for a sufficient length of time prior to the happening of an accident to permit the defendant to discover and remedy it (Gordon v American Museum of Natural History, 67 NY2d 836, 837-838 [1986]). Here, at best, the portions of the record upon which the dissent relies only establish that the owners had ample opportunity to observe any defective condition which might manifest itself. However, since the defective condition was latent and not visibly apparent, that [439]*439the owners were frequently present at the accident site even for prolonged periods of time is insufficient to establish constructive notice.

Plaintiff’s Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence claims were properly dismissed as against the engineer; there is no evidence that the engineer had the contractual right to control the injury-producing work or that it failed to use due care in the exercise of its professional services (see Carter, 196 AD2d at 754). Concur — Mazzarelli, J.P., Friedman, Renwick and Román, JJ.

Catterson, J., dissents in part in a memorandum as follows: I must respectfully dissent to the extent that I would deny the defendant owners’ motion for summary judgment and reinstate the plaintiff’s Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence claims against them insofar as they are based on a dangerous premises condition, and there is an issue of fact as to whether the homeowners had actual or constructive notice of the condition.

The following facts are established in the record: the defendants Rafael and Jacklin Dagan (hereinafter referred to as the homeowners) are the owners of a five-story building located at 333 East 51st Street in Manhattan (hereinafter referred to as the premises). The homeowners hired R & L Construction, Inc.

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Bluebook (online)
98 A.D.3d 436, 949 N.Y.S.2d 671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lopez-v-dagan-nyappdiv-2012.