Articles Posted in Construction Accident

This Seminar presented by The New York State Bar Association is still available. A construction worker involved in a work related accident in addition to a workers’ compensation claim may have a third party law suit against the general contractor and/or owner of the construction site pursuant to Sections 200, 240 and 241(6) of the New York Labor Law.

The first half of this seminar provides an overview of the case law, statutes and regulations governing construction site accidents. There is also discussion concerning the important aspects of the relationships between and among the carriers and their insureds. In the second half of the seminar, presenters address strategic, evidentiary and tactical concerns and provide live demonstrations of critical components of the trial of a labor law case. Panelists offer advice on jury selection, opening and closing statements, cross-examination and trial strategies. New and experienced practitioners alike will benefit from this seminar’s coverage of all the major aspect of a labor law trial.

Our Partner, Howard S. Hershenhorn was The Overall Planning Chair Of This New York State Bar Association Program and our Partner, Christopher L. Sallay was the Assistant Planning Chair. To order directly from The NYSBA click here.

Our Partner Howard Hershenhorn commented on the verdict in The New York Times;

“A lawyer for the family of Wayne Bleidner, the crane operator who died in the collapse, said he understood the judge’s decision. “From what I heard as the evidence was presented at this trial, there wasn’t enough evidence that he acted in a criminal manner to bring this crane down,” said the lawyer, Howard S. Hershenhorn.

“But Mr. Hershenhorn said there was still a strong case for civil negligence against Mr. Rapetti and others. A Manhattan judge has already found the general contractor on the project and the owner of the building civilly liable under New York labor law for the seven deaths. A trial to determine damages is scheduled to begin next month, Mr. Hershenhorn said.”

In Barrios v. City of New York, et.al., decided on July 13, 2010, The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the granting of Summary judgment against a prime contractor/construction manager despite the prime contractor not being in privity of contract with plaintiff’s employer. In holding the defendant contractor to be a statutory agent The Court stated;

“[w]here a separate prime contractor has been delegated the authority to supervise and control the plaintiff’s work, the contractor “becomes a statutory agent’ of the owner or general contractor” (Russin v Louis N. Picciano & Son, 54 NY2d at 318; see Walls v Turner Constr. Co., 4 NY3d 861, 863-864). Here, although Skanska was not in contractual privity with the plaintiff’s employer, the record establishes that Skanska had been delegated a significant degree of authority to supervise and oversee on-site safety matters.”

The Court further held that the fact that defendant was a construction manager and not a general contractor was not dispositive;

Once again our Partner Howard Hershenhorn was forced to respond to the ludicrous assertion by lawyers for master rigger William Rapetti who chose to rely on four pre-used and worn-out yellow polyester straps — called “slings,” — to secure a five-ton metal brace to the crane’s mast that Wayne Blinder, the Crane operator was at fault. The crane’s boom and its cab — with Wayne Bleidner, 51, helpless at the controls — broke off from the rest of the crane and catapulted onto the roof of a four-story brownstone on East 50th Street. Howard, quoted in The New York Post stated;

“It really cries of desperation,” says Bleidner’s lawyer Howard Hershenhorn, who is handling the family’s suit against Rapetti’s company.

“There have been four separate entities that have looked at this accident objectively — OSHA, the Department of Buildings, an engineering firm hired by the Department of Buildings, and Lehigh University, where the slings were sent,” Hershenhorn said.

Our Partner, Howard Hershenhorn, who is leading our representation of the family of the crane operator Wayne Bleidner, who was killed when a 200-foot-tall rig crashed down on a dense New York City block, killing seven people, leaving a gash of destruction near the United Nations and raising questions about the safety of the steel spindles that build skyscrapers, responded to the absurd claim by the rigger’s attorney who is being prosecuted for manslaughter, that some responsibility may lie with a crane operator who was killed in the collapse stating;

“Instead of Rapetti stepping up and taking responsibility for what multiple agencies and multiple independent parties have determined to be his fault, he now, in the most cowardly way, is going to blame the victim.” Read More.

Howard is recognized as one of the leading Construction Accident Lawyers in New York having tried numerous construction accident cases as well as speaking on them for The New York State Bar Association.

For those who have practiced in the area of New York Construction Accidents both plaintiff and defense attorneys can agree on one point: the law interpreting New York Labor Law, Section 240(1) is constantly changing. The pendulum swings back and forth. For a brief discussion of the ever changing law click here. With regard to falling objects, prior to 2001 if an object at a New York Construction Site fell striking a worker the plaintiff won. Then in May of 2001 that changed with the decision by The Court of Appeals in Narducci v Manhasset Bay Assoc., 96 N.Y.2d 259, 268, 750 N.E.2d 1085, 727 N.Y.S.2d 37 [2001]) in which The Court held;

“With respect to falling objects, Labor Law § 240 (1) applies where the falling of an object is related to “a significant risk inherent in … the relative elevation … at which materials or loads must be positioned or secured” ( Rocovich v Consolidated Edison Co., supra, 78 NY2d, at 514). Thus, for section 240 (1) to apply, a plaintiff must show more than simply that an object fell causing injury to a worker. A plaintiff must show that the object fell, while being hoisted or secured, because of the absence or inadequacy of a safety device of the kind enumerated in the statute…”

What followed was a rash of dismissed “falling object” cases. Then in 2005 The Court in Outar v City of New York, 5 NY3d 731, 731, 832 N.E.2d 1186, 799 N.Y.S.2d 770 affirmed summary judgment for the plaintiff who had been injured when struck by a falling Dolly holding “The elevation differential between the dolly and plaintiff was sufficient to trigger Labor Law § 240 (1)’s protection, and the dolly was an object that required securing for the purposes of the undertaking…”

From The New York Daily News;

The owner of the city’s largest construction crane company ( New York Crane and Equipment Company) is expected to be indicted for manslaughter in the death of two workers killed in an upper East Side disaster nearly two years ago.

For more information on New York Crane Accidents contact our New York Construction Accident Lawyers.

Our Partner, Howard S. Hershenhorn is The Overall Planning Chair Of This New York State Bar Association Program and our Partner, Christopher L. Sallay is the Assistant Planning Chair. Also Participating from our Firm are Ben B. Rubinowitz, Chair of The Long Island Program. Our partners, Robert L. Conason and Anthony H. Gair will also be speaking at the program. Bob Conason will be speaking at both the New York City and Long Island Seminars. Below are Links to the locations, dates and description of the Program.

Friday, November 20, 2009 Buffalo- http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Events1&Template=/Conference/ConferenceDescByRegClass.cfm&ConferenceID=3584

Friday, December 4, 2009 Latham- http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Events1&Template=/Conference/ConferenceDescByRegClass.cfm&ConferenceID=3585

This is from a Seminar by The New York State Bar Association, Construction Site Accidents: The Trial of a Labor Law Case. The Seminar was developed by Howard S. Hershenhorn who was the over -all planning chair. In this segment Mr. Hershenhorn gives a demonstration of an opening statement on behalf of a worker injured in a New York Construction Accident. The full seminar is recorded and available for CLE Credits from The NYSBA.

For more information on New York construction accidents contact the New York Construction Accident Lawyers at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf.