ARNOLD v. BALDWIN REAL ESTATE CORPORATION LP (2009)

Plaintiff commenced this Labor Law action seeking damages for injuries he sustained when he fell approximately 11 feet from a ladder to the ground while painting a commercial building.   Supreme Court properly granted plaintiff's cross motion for partial summary judgment on liability with respect to the Labor Law § 240(1) claim.  “Plaintiff met his initial burden by submitting his uncontroverted deposition testimony in which he testified that [the] ladder shifted, thus establishing as a matter of law that it was not so placed ․ as to give proper protection to plaintiff” (Evans v. Syracuse Model Neighborhood Corp., 53 A.D.3d 1135, 1136, 862 N.Y.S.2d 425 [internal quotation marks omitted];  see Whalen v. ExxonMobil Oil Corp., 50 A.D.3d 1553, 856 N.Y.S.2d 789), and he further established that defendants' violation of Labor Law § 240(1) was a proximate cause of his injuries (see Rudnik v. Brogor Realty Corp., 45 A.D.3d 828, 829, 847 N.Y.S.2d 141).   Thus, it cannot be said that plaintiff was “solely to blame for [them]” (Blake v. Neighborhood Hous. Servs. of N.Y. City, 1 N.Y.3d 280, 290, 771 N.Y.S.2d 484, 803 N.E.2d 757;  see Woods v. Design Ctr., LLC, 42 A.D.3d 876, 877, 839 N.Y.S.2d 880).   Defendants failed to raise a triable issue of fact in opposition to the cross motion (see generally Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557, 562, 427 N.Y.S.2d 595, 404 N.E.2d 718).   The evidence submitted by defendants establishing “that the ladder was structurally sound and not defective is not relevant on the issue of whether it was properly placed” (Whalen, 50 A.D.3d at 1554, 856 N.Y.S.2d 789 [internal quotation marks omitted] ).

It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.

MEMORANDUM: