Silvas v. Bridgeview Investors, LLC

79 A.D.3d 727, 912 N.Y.S.2d 618
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedDecember 7, 2010
StatusPublished
Cited by255 cases

This text of 79 A.D.3d 727 (Silvas v. Bridgeview Investors, LLC) 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
Silvas v. Bridgeview Investors, LLC, 79 A.D.3d 727, 912 N.Y.S.2d 618 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for wrongful death, the plaintiffs appeal, as limited by their brief, from (1) so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Ruchelsman, J.), entered May 19, 2009, as granted that branch of the motion of the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and T.EN. Development Corp. which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240 (1) insofar as asserted against the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, and East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and that branch of the cross motion of the defendant 36 BDWY, LLC, which was for summary judgment dismissing that cause of action insofar as asserted against that defendant, and (2) so much of an order of the same court dated October 15, 2009, as, upon reargument, in effect, adhered to the determination in the order entered May 19, 2009, granting that branch of the motion of the defendants Bridgeview [728]*728Investors, LLC, East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and T.F.N. Development Corp. which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240 (1) insofar as asserted against the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, and East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and granting that branch of the cross motion of the defendant 36 BDWY, LLC, which was for summary judgment dismissing that cause of action insofar as asserted against that defendant, and vacated the determination in the order entered May 19, 2009, denying that branch of the motion of the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and T.F.N. Development Corp. which was for summary judgment dismissing so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) as was predicated on a violation of Industrial Code (12 NYCRR) § 23-1.22 (c) (2) insofar as asserted against the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, and East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and denying that branch of the cross motion of the defendant 36 BDWY, LLC, which was for summary judgment dismissing that portion of the cause of action insofar as asserted against that defendant, and thereupon granted those branches of the motion and cross motion.

Ordered that the appeal from so much of the order entered May 19, 2009, as granted that branch of the motion of the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and T.F.N. Development Corp. which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240 (1) insofar as asserted against the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, and East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and granted that branch of the cross motion of the defendant 36 BDWY, LLC, which was for summary judgment dismissing that cause of action insofar as asserted against it, is dismissed, as those portions of the order were superseded by the order dated October 15, 2009, made upon reargument; and it is further,

Ordered that the order dated October 15, 2009, is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, and, upon reargument, the determination in the order entered May 19, 2009, granting that branch of the motion of the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and T.F.N. Development Corp. which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240 (1) insofar as asserted against the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, and East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and granting that branch of the cross motion of the defendant 36 BDWY, LLC, which was for summary judgment dismissing that cause of [729]*729action insofar as asserted against it is vacated, and those branches of the motion and the cross motion are denied, and the determination in the order entered May 19, 2009, denying that branch of the motion of the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and T.EN. Development Corp. which was for summary judgment dismissing so much of the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) as was predicated on a violation of Industrial Code (12 NYCRR) § 23-1.22 (c) (2) insofar as asserted against the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, and East Coast Construction Group, Inc., and denying that branch of the cross motion of the defendant 36 BDWY, LLC, which was for summary judgment dismissing that portion of the cause of action insofar as asserted against it is adhered to; and it is further,

Ordered that one bill of costs is awarded to the plaintiffs, payable by the defendants Bridgeview Investors, LLC, East Coast Construction Group, Inc., T.F.N. Development Corp. and 36 BDWY, LLC.

The decedent and a coworker were stacking pieces of plywood debris on a sixth floor balcony of a condominium building under construction when the decedent lost his balance and fell to his death. It is undisputed that on the date of the accident, the subject balcony had not yet been equipped with a railing. Although barricades of some type had been erected in front of the openings to all of the unguarded balconies in the building, the barricade in front of the subject balcony had been removed prior to the decedent’s fall.

Following the accident, the plaintiffs commenced this action against, among others, the building owners, Bridgeview Investors, LLC (hereinafter Bridgeview), and 36 BDWY, LLC (hereinafter 36 BDWAY), and the general contractor, East Coast Construction Group, Inc. (hereinafter East Coast; collectively the defendants), alleging, inter alia, violations of Labor Law § 240 (1) and § 241 (6). After depositions had been conducted, Bridgeview and East Coast, among others, moved for summary judgment, among other things, dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against those defendants, and 36 BDWY cross-moved for the same relief. In support of their respective motions, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs’ cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240 (1) should be dismissed because the decedent’s actions were the sole proximate cause of the accident. In support of their contention, the defendants claimed that the decedent and his coworker had disregarded explicit instructions to stockpile wood in front of the barricaded balconies, and had instead taken it upon themselves to remove [730]*730a barricade in front of a sixth floor balcony and to venture out onto that balcony. The defendants also argued that the plaintiffs’ cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 241 (6) should be dismissed because the various Industrial Code safety regulations upon which that cause of action was predicated were either too general to sustain a section 241 (6) claim or were inapplicable to the circumstances of the accident. In opposition to the motions, the plaintiffs argued that the defendants had offered no admissible evidentiary proof that the decedent and his coworker had removed the barricade in front of the subject balcony, or that they had disregarded explicit instructions by stacking plywood debris on the balcony. The plaintiffs further argued that the evidence suggested that it was necessary for the decedent and his coworker to stack the plywood debris on the balcony so that it could be removed by a lull machine equipped with a forklift. The plaintiffs also contended that the absence of railings on the balcony, where the workers were stacking plywood debris for removal, violated Industrial Code (12 NYCRR) § 23-1.22 (c) (2).

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Bluebook (online)
79 A.D.3d 727, 912 N.Y.S.2d 618, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/silvas-v-bridgeview-investors-llc-nyappdiv-2010.