Nolan v. Structure Tone, LLC.

2024 NY Slip Op 34318(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedDecember 6, 2024
DocketIndex No. 156632/2018
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2024 NY Slip Op 34318(U) (Nolan v. Structure Tone, 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
Nolan v. Structure Tone, LLC., 2024 NY Slip Op 34318(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

Opinion

Nolan v Structure Tone, LLC. 2024 NY Slip Op 34318(U) December 6, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 156632/2018 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. 156632/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 296 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/09/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. DAVID B. COHEN PART 58 Justice ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------X INDEX NO. 156632/2018 MARK W. NOLAN, MOTION DATE 03/29/2024 Plaintiff, MOTION SEQ. NO. 004 005 006 - V -

STRUCTURE TONE, LLC., RCPI LANDMARK PROPERTIES, TISHMAN SPEYER PROPERTIES, LP, DECISION + ORDER ON EUROTECH CONSTRUCTION CORP., CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS INC., MOTION

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

STRUCTURE TONE, LLC., RCPI LANDMARK PROPERTIES, Third-Party TISHMAN SPEYER PROPERTIES, LP Index No. 595048/2019

Plaintiffs,

-against-

NEAD ELECTRIC, INC.

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

STRUCTURE TONE, LLC., RCPI LANDMARK PROPERTIES, Second Third-Party TISHMAN SPEYER PROPERTIES, LP Index No. 595353/2021

EUROTECH CONSTRUCTION CORP.

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

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 161, 162, 163, 164, 165,166,167,168,169,170,171,172,173,174,175,182,184,186,212,216,218,224,257,258,259, 260,261,262,263,264,289 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT-SUMMARY

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 005) 136, 137, 138, 139, 140,141,142,143,144,145,146,147,148,149,150,151,152,153,154,155,156,157,158,159, 160,

1 of 14 [* 1] INDEX NO. 156632/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 296 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/09/2024

178,181,183,185,187,213,217,219,225,251,252,253,274,275,276,277,278,279,280,281,290, 291,292 were read on this motion to/for SUMMARY JUDGMENT(AFTER JOINDER

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 006) 188, 189, 190, 191, 192,193,194,195,196,197,198,199,200,201,202,203,204,205,206,207,208,209,210,211,214, 220,223,226,227,228,229,230,231,232,233,234,235,236,237,238,239,240,241,242,243,244, 245,246,247,248,249,250,254,255,256,265,266,267,268,269,270,271,272,273,282,283,284, 285,286,287,288 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT-SUMMARY

In this personal injury Labor Law action, defendant/third-party defendant Eurotech

Construction Corp. moves for an order granting it summary judgment on its counterclaims

against co-defendant Capital Construction Systems, Inc. for contractual and common-law

indemnity and breach of contract (mot. seq. 004). Capital opposes.

In motion sequence five, defendants/third-party/second third-party plaintiffs Structure

Tone, Inc., RCPI Landmark Properties L.L.C., and Tishman Speyer Properties, L.P. (collectively

Owner defendants) move for an order granting them summary judgment on their second third-

party complaint against Eurotech, filed in this action, and granting them summary judgment on

their cross-claims against Eurotech in another pending action in this court (index number

150968/21). Owner defendants also move for summary judgment on their cross-claims against

Capital filed in another action (index number 157449/21). Eurotech and Capital oppose.

By notice of motion, Capital moves for an order granting it summary dismissal of the

complaint and all counterclaims and cross-claims against it (mot. seq. 006). Plaintiff and Owner

defendants oppose.

The motions are consolidated for disposition. The other index numbers have been

consolidated into the instant action (NYSCEF 177).

2 of 14 [* 2] INDEX NO. 156632/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 296 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/09/2024

I. PERTINENT BACKGROUND

Based on the parties' statements and counterstatements of material facts, the following

facts are undisputed:

A. Plaintiff's accident

On January 31, 2018, plaintiff was injured while working on a project taking place at 30

Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. RCPI owns the premises, while Tishman was RCPI' s agent.

Structure Tone was the general contractor, and it employed laborers to clean debris during the

project (NYSCEF 159).

At the time of his accident, plaintiff was working as a journeyman/wireman employed by

third-party defendant NEAD Electric. Plaintiff's work involved installing electrical conduit,

wires, pulling wires, electrical pipes and boxes, and other electrical work. He was supervised

only by NEAD's general foreman on the project (NYSCEF 164).

According to Eurotech' s witness, the project involved the installation of a grid ceiling,

which consists of black iron, ceiling panels, and pencil rods. Eurotech's work at the project did

not involve the use of pencil rods, while Capital's did. Capital was expected to use its own

equipment, tools and materials (NYSCEF 166), and was the only contractor that used pencil rods

for its work (NYSCEF 157).

On the accident date, plaintiff observed a laborer from a "ceiling company" drill holes in

the ceiling and cut and install pencil rods. The laborer was using an A-frame ladder to access the

ceiling, and after he cut and installed the rods in the ceiling, he cut off the excess and allowed it

to fall on the floor. Although Structure Tone's laborers were responsible for cleaning debris

from the floor, it was customary practice that a worker cutting pencil rods would catch the

trimmings in a basket or something to keep them from falling on the floor (NYSCEF 164-166).

3 of 14 [* 3] INDEX NO. 156632/2018 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 296 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/09/2024

Plaintiff testified at a deposition that at approximately 11 am, he stepped on two cut

pieces of pencil rod while descending an A-frame ladder and fell to the floor (NYSCEF 173,

173). Plaintiff's foreperson took a picture after his accident, which does not show any pencil

rods around the ladder (NYSCEF 280).

At a deposition, Capital's vice president testified that Capital's project foreperson told

him that they had started working at the premises a few days before plaintiff's accident and that

they had not yet reached the side of the floor where plaintiff was injured. Capital's employees

only worked using scaffolds, not ladders, and pictures taken of the accident showed that the

room did not yet have walls in place, and ceilings would only be installed after the walls were

installed (NYSCEF 158).

Eurotech' s witness testified that while the walls in the room were constructed, no

sheetrock had been installed, and that Capital was not permitted to install iron in the ceilings

unless sheetrock had first been installed (NYSCEF 190).

Structure Tone's superintendent investigated plaintiff's accident the day of the accident

and found no debris or pencil rods on the floor around the ladder (NYSCEF 157). Incident

reports prepared by plaintiff's foreperson reflect that he told the foreperson that he stepped on a

pencil rod while stepping off the ladder (NYSCEF 148).

B. Applicable documents

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

Related

Comes v. New York State Electric & Gas Corp.
631 N.E.2d 110 (New York Court of Appeals, 1993)
Rizzuto v. L.A. Wenger Contracting Co.
693 N.E.2d 1068 (New York Court of Appeals, 1998)
Walls v. Turner Construction Company
831 N.E.2d 408 (New York Court of Appeals, 2005)
Richard Drzewinski v. Atlantic Scaffold & Ladder Co.
515 N.E.2d 902 (New York Court of Appeals, 1987)
Solano v. Skanska USA Civil Northeast Inc.
2017 NY Slip Op 2388 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2017)
People v. Muhammad
2020 NY Slip Op 2252 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2020)
Russin v. Louis N. Picciano & Son
429 N.E.2d 805 (New York Court of Appeals, 1981)
Fraser v. Pace Plumbing Corp.
93 A.D.3d 616 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2012)
Cappabianca v. Skanska USA Building Inc.
99 A.D.3d 139 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2012)
Trustees of Columbia University v. Mitchell/Giurgola Associates
109 A.D.2d 449 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1985)
Purcell v. Metlife Inc.
108 A.D.3d 431 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2013)
Correia v. Professional Data Management, Inc.
259 A.D.2d 60 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1999)
Benedetto v. Hyatt Corp.
203 A.D.3d 505 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2022)
Winkler v. Halmar Intl., LLC
206 A.D.3d 458 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2022)
Moore v. URS Corp.
209 A.D.3d 438 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2022)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2024 NY Slip Op 34318(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nolan-v-structure-tone-llc-nysupctnewyork-2024.