NAVA v. [And a Third-Party Action] (2023)

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Lucindo Suarez, J.), entered on or about October 6, 2022, which granted defendants Aretha Franklin and James Emmanuel, Jr.’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as against them, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff sustained injuries while working at a construction site where defendants were constructing a two-family home.  The Labor Law §§ 240(1) and 241(6) claims as against defendants were properly dismissed, as defendants fell within the homeowner's exemption set forth in the statutes, which exempts from liability “owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work.”

Defendants made a prima facie showing of their entitlement to the exemption by demonstrating that they intended to reside in one of the units, and therefore that the property was not to be used solely for commercial purposes, and that they did not direct or control plaintiff's work (see Van Amerogen v. Donnini, 78 N.Y.2d 880, 882–883, 573 N.Y.S.2d 443, 577 N.E.2d 1035 [1991];  Farias v. Simon, 122 A.D.3d 466, 467, 997 N.Y.S.2d 28 [1st Dept. 2014]).  Plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact in opposition.

Absent evidence that defendants exercised supervisory control over the injury-producing work, the Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence claims were also properly dismissed (see Affri v. Basch, 13 N.Y.3d 592, 596, 894 N.Y.S.2d 370, 921 N.E.2d 1034 [2009]).