New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog

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.