Santiago v. Rusciano & Son, Inc.

92 A.D.3d 585, 938 N.Y.2d 557

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: February 23, 2012
• Status: Published

Opinion

Plaintiff was injured when, while boarding up windows to make the subject premises uninhabitable and to protect it from vandalism in anticipation of demolition, he fell several feet from a ladder. Plaintiffs accident fell within the purview of section 240 (1), since the ladder supplied to plaintiff slipped out from underneath him and did not offer proper protection (see Kijak v 330 Madison Ave. Corp., 251 AD2d 152, 153 [1998]; see also Velasco v Green-Wood Cemetery, 8 AD3d 88, 89 [2004]). Moreover, plaintiff was “altering” the premises within the meaning of Labor Law § 240 (1). He was engaged in activities designed to prepare and secure the premises’ windows for demolition, thereby “making a significant physical change to the configuration or composition of the building” (Joblon v Solow, 91 NY2d 457, 465 [1998]; see Belding v Verizon N.Y., Inc., 14 NY3d 751, 752 [2010]).

The Labor Law § 241 (6) cause of action was improperly dismissed. Plaintiff was performing work on the premises as it was being prepared for demolition.

Plaintiff’s Labor Law § 200 claim was properly dismissed. The accident did not arise from a dangerous condition of the premises and the Owners did not direct or control plaintiffs work (see Campuzano v Board of Educ. of City of N.Y., 54 AD3d 268, 269 [2008]). Concur — Mazzarelli, J.E, Catterson, Renwick, Abdus-Salaam and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.