New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog

In this New York Construction Accident case The Second Department granted plaintiff”s motion for summary judgment on his 240(1) cause of action. The facts as set forth by the Court were as follows;

“In August 2004 the plaintiff was working as a carpenter on a project involving renovation of office space for the lessee of that space, the defendant Orthopedic Associates of Dutchess County, P.C. (hereinafter the defendant). The plaintiff alleged that debris, including metal studs 10 to 12 feet long, were thrown down a chute from the fourth floor of the subject building, and that he was responsible for unclogging the bottom of the chute on the ground floor. He further alleged that he was injured when, while clearing the chute, he was struck on the hand and lower arm by one of those metal studs that had either been (a) deposited into the chute on the fourth floor and fell down the interior of the chute before striking him as he worked on the ground floor, (b) deposited into the chute on the fourth floor, and became blocked by a stud lodged near the bottom of the chute, but again began to fall when the plaintiff dislodged the lower stud, or (c) lodged near the bottom of the chute, but had become dislodged when another metal stud fell several stories down the interior of the chute and struck it.”

In granting the motion the Court citing Runner stated, ” The Court of Appeals has recently stated that “the single decisive question is whether plaintiff’s injuries were the direct consequence of a failure to provide adequate protection against a risk arising from a physically significant elevation differential” (Runner v New York Stock Exch., Inc., 13 NY3d at 603). The Court went on to state;

The New York State Bar Association has chosen Howard S. Hershenhorn of Gair,Gair,Conason,Steigman,Mackauf,Bloom and Rubinowitz as The Overall Planning Chair of its annual Construction Site Accidents Program to be held on Nov 19, Dec 3, and Dec 10. 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. Robert L. Conason and Anthony H. Gair will also be speaking at the program. In addition to serving as overall Planning Chair, Howard S. Hershenhorn will be demonstrating both plaintiff’s and defendants’s opening statements at The New York City Program as will Ben B. Rubinowitz at The Long Island Program. Robert L. Conason will be giving a demonstration of a Plaintiff’s Closing Argument at The New York City Program. Anthony H. Gair will speak on The Current State of the Labor Law at The Long Island and New York City Programs.

In describing the program Mr Hershenhorn said, “We are honored to be asked to chair this important program on Construction Site Accidents. We have always sought to share our expertise with other attorneys in the field and we have asked some of the very best attorneys throughout New York State to join us.” GGCSMBR has achieved some of the largest awards in the Country for those who have been injured as a result of safety failures at Construction job sites. The firms expertise has brought them National acclaim in the field. Click on the following for information for each location.

(F) November 19, 2010 Albany New York State Nurses Association