Lopez v. NG 645 Madison Ave. LLC

2024 NY Slip Op 30804(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedMarch 13, 2024
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2024 NY Slip Op 30804(U) (Lopez v. NG 645 Madison Ave. 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
Lopez v. NG 645 Madison Ave. LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 30804(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

Opinion

Lopez v NG 645 Madison Ave. LLC 2024 NY Slip Op 30804(U) March 13, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 158495/2019 Judge: Arlene P. Bluth 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. 158495/2019 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 182 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/13/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. ARLENE P. BLUTH PART 14 Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 158495/2019 LEONEL LOPEZ, MOTION DATE 03/08/2024 Plaintiff, 001 002 003 -v- MOTION SEQ. NO. 004

NG 645 MADISON AVE LLC,BLR MADISON LLC, DECISION + ORDER ON Defendant. MOTION

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

NG 645 MADISON AVE LLC, BLR MADISON LLC Third-Party Index No. 595954/2019 Plaintiff,

-against-

VANGUARD CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT CO., INC., REAL PLUMBING CORP.

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

NG 645 MADISON AVE LLC, BLR MADISON LLC Second Third-Party Index No. 595759/2021 Plaintiff,

ZEREM ELECTRIC CORP.

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

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 147, 155, 156, 161, 162, 163, 169 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT - SUMMARY .

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 002) 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 148, 157, 158, 170, 171, 172, 173 were read on this motion to/for PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT .

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 003) 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 149, 164, 165, 166, 174, 175, 176, 177

158495/2019 LOPEZ, LEONEL vs. NG 645 MADISON AVE LLC Page 1 of 13 Motion No. 001 002 003 004

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were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT - SUMMARY .

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 159, 160, 167, 168, 178 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT - SUMMARY .

Motion Sequence Numbers 001 through 004 are consolidated for disposition. Second

third-party defendant Zerem Electric Corp. (“Zerem”)’s motion (MS001) for summary judgment

is denied. Plaintiff’s motion (MS002) for partial summary judgment under Labor Law § 241(6)

and to dismiss affirmative defenses alleging culpable conduct is granted. Third-party defendant

Real Plumbing Corp. (“Real Plumbing”)’s motion (MS003) for summary judgment is granted as

described below. Defendants NG 645 Madison Ave LLC and BLR Madison LLC (collectively

the “Madison Defendants”)’s motion (MS004) for summary judgment is granted in part and

denied in part.

Background

This Labor Law action arises out of a construction accident suffered by plaintiff in which

he suffered an electrical shock while cutting into a metal tray that threw him off a ladder.

Unfortunately for plaintiff, the metal tray turned out to be an electrical bus that was not

deenergized. Plaintiff spent a month in the burn unit following this accident.

He contends that he was working as a laborer for third-party defendant Vanguard

Construction & Development Co. Inc. (“Vanguard”) on the day of the accident (NYSCEF Doc.

No. 82 at 17 [plaintiff’s deposition transcript]). Vanguard was the “construction manager” on site

hired by the owners of the buildings, the Madison Defendants. Plaintiff testified that he was

instructed by his foreman from Vanguard to “clear the path for the Real Plumbing to put the

anchors to support the temporary loop” (id. at 34-35). He explained that clearing the path meant

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clearing “debris from the demo from before, some pieces of sheet rock” (id. at 35). The materials

to be removed were located in the ceiling (id.).

Plaintiff testified that he had to remove the ceiling tiles, which were light, with his hands

but that he needed a six-foot A-frame ladder to do his work (id. at 36). Next, the spots for the

anchors were marked by Real Plumbing and plaintiff was told to “remove whatever was in the

way so that they can drill the concrete to put the anchors” (id. at 37-38). He explained that “it

was my job to get all the tools that I need to get together and start doing the job” (id. at 40).

Plaintiff observed that he also had to remove a tray, a piece of metal, that had to be cut

and that this tray sometimes holds cables on top of it although plaintiff explained that his

foreman (Steve) investigated and confirmed that there were no cables present (id. at 40-41). He

insisted that his foreman (Steve) told him that he should cut the metal tray into pieces and then

put these pieces into containers to be thrown out (id. at 47-48). Petitioner testified he used a

“sawsaw” (commonly known as a sawzall or reciprocal saw) for this job (id. at 49).

Petitioner observed he was wearing work boots, jeans, a long sleeve shirt, cloth gloves, a

hat and goggles that day (id. at 54). He explained that he only made a single cut lasting between

30 seconds and a minute into the metal when his accident occurred (id.). Plaintiff testified that

after “45 second that I was going into the metal was when the explosion occurred” (id. at 55). “It

was--- it was a very bright light and very loud noise when the sawsaw went through the tray”

(id.). He added that there were flames and that he probably suffered some type of shock that

threw him off the ladder (id. at 56).

At the time of the accident no one was with plaintiff in the hallway where he was

working although there were plumbers about 30 to 40 feet away behind a door (id.). Plaintiff

noted that after his accident, he learned that he had cut into something called an electrical bus

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(id. at 58). He was told that there was about 10,000 to 12,000 volts going through the board to

the tray he cut (id. at 58-59).

MS001

Zerem, the electrical contractor, moves for summary judgment on the ground that it had

no connection to the accident. It observes that the electrical bus that plaintiff cut into was

mistaken for a data tray and had been inadvertently marked for demolition without Zerem’s

knowledge. Zerem claims that it was never asked to do anything with regard to the electrical bus

and, even if it had, the building staff would have had to help turn off the power in order to

remove this item.

In opposition, Real Plumbing contends that plaintiff testified that someone from Zerem

came the day before his accident to ensure that everything was ready for the demo crew. Real

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Bluebook (online)
2024 NY Slip Op 30804(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lopez-v-ng-645-madison-ave-llc-nysupctnewyork-2024.