McLean v. 405 Webster Avenue Associates

98 A.D.3d 1090, 951 N.Y.S.2d 185

This text of 98 A.D.3d 1090 (McLean v. 405 Webster Avenue Associates) 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
McLean v. 405 Webster Avenue Associates, 98 A.D.3d 1090, 951 N.Y.S.2d 185 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant Mastec Incorporated and the defendants Verizon New York, Inc., and Verizon Communications, Inc., doing business as Verizon, separately appeal, as limited by their respective notices of appeal and briefs, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Schack, J.), dated August 9, 2010, as denied those branches of their respective cross motions which were for summary judgment dismissing the causes of action alleging common-law negligence and a violation of Labor Law § 200 insofar as asserted against each of them; the defendant/ third-party plaintiff, Linear Technologies, Inc., separately appeals from so much of the same order as denied those branches of its cross motion which were for summary judgment dismissing the causes of action alleging common-law negligence and a violation of Labor Law § 200 insofar as asserted against it, so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) as was based upon an alleged violation of 12 NYCRR 23-1.8 (c) insofar as asserted against it, and all cross claims asserted against it, and for summary judgment on its third-party cause of action against Original Communications, Inc., for contractual indemnification; the third-party defendant Original Communications, Inc., cross-appeals, as limited by its notice of appeal and brief, from so much of the same order as denied those branches of its cross motion which were for summary judgment dismissing so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) as was based upon an alleged violation of 12 NYCRR 23-1.8 (c); and the plaintiff cross-appeals from so much of the same order as granted those branches of the respective cross motions which were for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240 (1) and so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) as was based upon an alleged violation of 12 NYCRR 23-2.5 (a) (1), and denied that branch of his motion which was for summary judgment on the issue of liability on the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240 (1) and so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of [1092]*1092Labor Law § 241 (6) as was based upon alleged violations of 12 NYCRR 23-1.8 (c) and 23-2.5 (a) (1).

Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, without costs or disbursements.

On April 18, 2007, the plaintiff, an employee of the third-party defendant Original Communications, Inc. (hereinafter Original), was installing microduct (a protective housing for fiber optic cable) in a dumbwaiter shaft of a building owned by the defendant 405 Webster Avenue Associates (hereinafter the owner). While allegedly standing on a dumbwaiter cart in the shaft, he was hit by the counterweight for the dumbwaiter, and allegedly sustained personal injuries, including broken vertebrae in his neck.

The installation of the microduct was performed pursuant to a contract between Verizon New York, Inc., and Verizon Communications, Inc., doing business as Verizon (hereinafter together the Verizon defendants), and Mastec Incorporated (hereinafter Mastec), which acted as general contractor for the project. Mastec in turn subcontracted the installation of the microduct to the defendant Linear Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter Linear), which hired Original to perform the actual installation work.

The plaintiff commenced this action to recover damages for personal injuries against, among others, the owner, the Verizon defendants, Mastec, and Linear, alleging common-law negligence and violations of Labor Law §§ 200, 240 (1) and 241 (6). The cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) was based, inter alia, on alleged violations of 12 NYCRR 23-1.8 (c) and 23-2.5 (a) (1). Linear interposed a third-party cause of action against Original for contractual indemnification.

After discovery, the plaintiff moved for summary judgment on the issue of liability, and the Verizon defendants, Mastec, and Linear separately cross-moved, inter alia, for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims insofar as asserted against each of them. Linear also cross-moved for summary judgment on its third-party cause of action against Original for contractual indemnification. Original separately cross-moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and the third-party complaints against it. In the order appealed from, the Supreme Court, inter alia, awarded the Verizon defendants, Mastec, Linear, and Original (hereinafter collectively the moving defendants) summary judgment dismissing the causes of action alleging violations of Labor Law § 240 (1) and so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) as was based upon an alleged violation of 12 NYCRR 23-2.5 (a) (1), [1093]*1093and denied those branches of the moving defendants’ respective cross motions which were for summary judgment dismissing so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) as was based upon an alleged violation of 12 NYCRR 23-1.8 (c) (1), and the causes of action alleging common-law negligence and a violation of Labor Law § 200. The Supreme Court denied those branches of the plaintiff’s motion which were for summary judgment on the issue of liability on the causes of action alleging violations of Labor Law §§ 240 (1) and 241 (6). The Supreme Court also denied that branch of Linear’s cross motion which was for summary judgment on its third-party cause of action against Original for contractual indemnification, on the ground that there were issues of fact as to whether Linear’s own negligence contributed to the accident (see McLean v 405 Webster Ave. Assoc., 28 Misc 3d 1219[A], 2010 NY Slip Op 51396DJ] [2010]).

Labor Law § 200 codifies the common-law duty of an owner or general contractor to provide employees with a safe place to work (see Comes v New York State Elec. & Gas Corp., 82 NY2d 876, 877 [1993]). Liability pursuant to Labor Law § 200 may fall into two broad categories: workers “injured as a result of dangerous or defective premises conditions at a work site, and those involving the manner in which the work is performed” (Ortega v Puccia, 57 AD3d 54, 61 [2008]). Here, the plaintiff alleged that he was injured as a result of a dangerous or defective condition at the work site.

Where an accident results from a dangerous condition at the work site, a general contractor “may be liable in common-law negligence and under Labor Law § 200 only if it had control over the work site and either created the dangerous condition or had actual or constructive notice of it” (Sotomayer v Metropolitan Transp. Auth., 92 AD3d 862, 864 [2012]; see Schultz v Hi-Tech Constr. & Mgt. Servs., Inc., 69 AD3d 701, 701-702 [2010]; Urban v No. 5 Times Sq. Dev., LLC, 62 AD3d 553, 556 [2009]; Van Salisbury v Elliott-Lewis, 55 AD3d 725, 726 [2008]). Constructive notice may be imputed to the general contractor if the dangerous condition is visible and apparent and existed for a sufficient length of time prior to the accident to permit the general contractor to discover it and remedy it (see Spindell v Town of Hempstead, 92 AD3d 669 [2012]).

“The owner’s duty to provide a safe place to work encompasses the duty to make reasonable inspections” (Kennedy v McKay, 86 AD2d 597, 598 [1982]; see Colon v Bet Torah, Inc., 66 AD 3d 731, 732 [2009]; Wynne v State of New York, 53 AD3d 656, 658 [2008]), and the question of whether the danger should [1094]

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Bluebook (online)
98 A.D.3d 1090, 951 N.Y.S.2d 185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mclean-v-405-webster-avenue-associates-nyappdiv-2012.