Rodriguez v. Paramount Fee, L.P.

2024 NY Slip Op 34465(U)
New York Supreme Court, New York County·Decided December 23, 2024·No. Index No. 151934/2017·Unpublished

Opinion

Rodriguez v Paramount Fee, L.P.

2024 NY Slip Op 34465(U)

December 23, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 151934/2017 Judge: Lisa S. Headley 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.

FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 12/23/2024 04:40 PM INDEX NO. 151934/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 155 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/23/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. LISA S. HEADLEY PART 28M Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 151934/2017 RODOLFO RODRIGUEZ, MOTION DATE 08/13/2024 Plaintiff, MOTION SEQ. NO. 001 -v-

PARAMOUNT FEE, L.P., PARAMOUNT LEASEHOLD, L.P., D3 LED, LLC,LEVIN MANAGEMENT CORP., WILLOW DECISION + ORDER ON RUN FOODS, INC.,DALE J. KARPEL, MOTION Defendant.

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

PARAMOUNT FEE, L.P., PARAMOUNT LEASEHOLD, L.P., Third-Party LEVIN MANAGEMENT CORP. Index No. 595579/2017

Plaintiff,

-against-

MILLENNIUM RESTORATION CORP.

Defendant.

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

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 126, 127, 130, 134, 139, 142, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152 were read on this motion to/for JUDGMENT - SUMMARY .

I. Background In this personal injury action, plaintiff, Rodolfo Rodriguez (“Plaintiff”), alleges that on August 22, 2016, while he was performing construction work at the subject premises, located at 1501 Broadway, New York, New York (“the Premises”), he sustained serious and permanent injuries.

A. The Parties The plaintiff, Rodriguez Rodolfo, was employed by third-party defendant, Millenium Restoration Corporation (“Millenium”) as a laborer. On February 28, 2017, the plaintiff commenced this action against defendants, Paramount Fee L.P. (“Paramount Fee”); Paramount Leasehold L.P. (“Paramount Leasehold”); D3 LED LLC (“D3 LED”); Levin Management Corp (“Levin”); Willow Run Foods (“Willow Run ”); and Dale J. Karpel (“Karpel”). Thereafter, on July 20, 2017, Defendants/Third-Party Plaintiffs, Paramount Fee, Paramount Leasehold and Levin,

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FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 12/23/2024 04:40 PM INDEX NO. 151934/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 155 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 12/23/2024

(collectively, Third-Party Plaintiffs”), commenced a third-party action against, third-party defendant, Millenium Restoration Corp. (“Millenium” or “Third-Party Defendant”).

Defendant Paramount Fee is the owner of the Premises and leased the Premises pursuant to a ground lease. Defendant D3 LED LLC (“D3 LED”) was purportedly retained by co- Defendants to provide work, labor and/ or services at the Premises. Defendant Levin is a property management company to properties and buildings owned by Paramount Fee, and was allegedly retained to provide work, labor and/or services at the Premises. Defendant Willow Run owned and operated the truck bearing New York license Plate Number 1342C0, which was the vehicle that was allegedly involved in the accident that occurred on August 22, 2016. Plaintiff alleges that defendant Karpel operated the truck that was involved in the accident.

B. The Complaint and the Third-Party Complaint In the Complaint, plaintiff alleges that Millenium hired him to perform services related to various renovation projects at the Premises. The Plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated the Labor Law of the State of New York, the Industrial Code of the State of New York, and the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as they pertain to construction work sites. (See, NYSCEF Doc. No.1). The Plaintiff claims that he was performing probing work and standing inside a lift boom basket when he was struck by a tractor-trailer driven by Defendant Karpel and then was stuck between the basket and the wall. As a result of the accident, the Plaintiff claims he sustained injuries to his right arm.

In the third-party complaint, the Third-Party Plaintiffs Paramount Fee, Paramount Leasehold and Levin allege that they had a “hold harmless/ indemnification agreement” with the third-party defendant, Millenium. (See, Third Party Complaint, NYSEF Doc. No. 22). Therefore, third-party plaintiffs contend that Millenium agreed to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the owner and other parties from accidents related to the work performed at the Premises pursuant to the “Indemnification/ Hold Harmless” clause in the Master Service Agreement between Millenium and James Coffey. (See, Exhibit J, NYSCEF Doc. No.74).

II. The Defendants Paramount Fee and Levin’s Summary Judgment Motion (Seq.

No. 001)

In Motion Sequence Number 001, defendants, Paramount Fee and Levin, seek an Order granting them summary judgment, pursuant to CPLR §3212(1), and dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint as against said defendants. Defendants seek an Order granting summary judgment in favor of Paramount Fee on its Third-Party claim against Millenium for contractual indemnity and for breach of contract for failure to procure insurance. Defendants also seek an Order granting summary judgment in favor of Paramount Fee and Levin on their crossclaims against co- defendants, Willow Run and Karpel for common-law indemnity. (See, NYSCEF Doc. No. 61-86).

Plaintiff, Rodriguez Roldofo, and co-Defendants, Paramount Leasehold, Millenium, Willow Run and Karpel all filed opposition to the motion. The movant-defendants filed reply papers. (See, NYSCEF Doc Nos. 146 and 147).

At the court conference hold on August 13, 2024, the plaintiff withdrew the Labor Law §§200 and 240 claims asserted in the Complaint. In addition, plaintiff withdrew its claims against

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Levin. Therefore, the remaining issues to determine in the instant motion are whether the plaintiff has a Labor Law §241(6) claim against defendant, Paramount Fee, or whether the defendants motion for summary judgment dismissing the Labor Law §241(6) claim should be granted, as well as whether there is an enforceable contractual indemnification clause as to Millenium, Willow Run and/or driver, defendant Karpel.

In support of the motion, defendant Paramount Fee submitted, inter alia, the Statement of Material Facts (NYSCEF Doc. No. 62), the affirmation of Louis A. Carotenuto, Esq., (NYSCEF Doc. No. 63), the Master Provider Agreement, dated July 28, 2016, (NYSCEF Doc. No. 74 and 75), the transcript of plaintiff’s deposition (NYSCEF Doc. No 79), the deposition transcript of Millenium’s supervisor Hector Palacios (NYSCEF Doc. No 81), the transcript of defendant Karpel’s deposition (NYSCEF Doc. No 82), and the deposition transcript of Cody Dayo, who was a witness working for Willow Run. (NYSCEF Doc. No 83).

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Rodriguez v. Paramount Fee, L.P., 2024 NY Slip Op 34465(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

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