Kahana Feld Secures Unanimous Appellate Victory in New York Labor Law Case  

KF Partners Rachael Marvin and Jeff Miragliotta recently achieved a significant appellate victory in New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department, which unanimously affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of the Plaintiff’s Complaint against the client, the general contractor of a housing project, alleging violations of New York Labor Law 240(1), 241(6) and 200. 

The plaintiff, a laborer on the housing project, fell from an unsecured metal plank placed across an eight-foot trench by co-workers as a makeshift ramp, despite a safe, accessible route already available. The plaintiff sustained serious injuries requiring surgery and subsequently alleged violations of Labor Law §§ 240(1), 241(6), and 200 against the owner and general contractor and demanded $3 million to settle. The defendants argued that the  plaintiff was the sole proximate cause of his accident, the metal ramp was not constructed for the use of persons, and the trench, which was located outside the area where the plaintiff was working, was not a hazardous opening as contemplated by the industrial code. The Supreme Court’s decision dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety, holding that the plaintiff was the sole proximate cause of the accident. 

The plaintiff appealed the lower court’s dismissal of his complaint and the Second Department affirmed, holding that the plaintiff’s accident did not result from a dangerous condition but rather his own conduct of stepping on a metal plank, which was not intended for that purpose.  

This important Appellate decision highlights the Defendants’ sole proximate cause defense in challenging Plaintiff’s Labor Law claims.