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Haghighi v. Bailer

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 2, 1997
240 A.D.2d 368 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)

Opinion

June 2, 1997

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Lisa, J.).


Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with one bill of costs.

We agree with the Supreme Court that the activity in which the injured plaintiff was engaged at the time he fell, whether consisting of changing light bulbs or tightening and taping a loose wire nut, constituted mere routine maintenance in a non-construction, nonrenovation context and thus failed to support a claim pursuant to Labor Law § 240 (see, Brown v. Christopher St. Owners Corp., 87 N.Y.2d 938; Smith v. Shell Oil Co., 85 N.Y.2d 1000; Greenwood v. Shearson, Lehman Hutton, 238 A.D.2d 311; Bermel v. Board of Educ., 231 A.D.2d 663; Howe v. 1660 Grand Is. Blvd., 209 A.D.2d 934; Cosentino v. Long Is. R. R., 201 A.D.2d 528). Furthermore, the injured plaintiff neither established the requisite employment relationship with the defendant to support his claim (see, Whelen v. Warwick Val. Civic Social Club, 47 N.Y.2d 970; Meehan v. Mobil Oil Corp., 184 A.D.2d 1021), nor demonstrated the existence of any defect that proximately caused his injury (see, Katisfarakis v. Central School Dist. No. 1., 201 A.D.2d 622; Silva v. 81st St. Ave. A Corp., 169 A.D.2d 402).

The dismissal of the claim pursuant to Labor Law § 241 (6) was also proper because the accident did not arise in a construction context (see, Jock v. Fien, 80 N.Y.2d 965; Phillips v City of New York, 228 A.D.2d 570; Kesselbach v. Liberty Haulage, 182 A.D.2d 741; Malczewski v. Cannon Design, 125 A.D.2d 941) and because the injured plaintiff failed to come forward with evidence of a violation of any specific implementing regulation that proximately caused his injury (see, Ross v Curtis-Palmer Hydro-Elec. Co., 81 N.Y.2d 494; Ares v. State of New York, 80 N.Y.2d 959; Carrion v. Lewmara Realty Corp., 222 A.D.2d 205; Mantovi v. Nico Constr. Co., 217 A.D.2d 650).

Finally, the plaintiffs' claim pursuant to common-law negligence and Labor Law § 200 must fail since they have presented no evidence that the defendant had actual or constructive notice of any purported defect (see, Lombardi v. Stout, 80 N.Y.2d 290; McCague v. Walsh Constr., 225 A.D.2d 530; Weaver v Chan, 224 A.D.2d 519) or that he directed or controlled the performance of the work (see, Briglio v. J.D.K Group, 238 A.D.2d 297; Grindley v. Town of Eastchester, 213 A.D.2d 448; Rojas v County of Nassau, 210 A.D.2d 390).

Rosenblatt, J.P., Thompson, Sullivan and Friedmann, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Haghighi v. Bailer

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Jun 2, 1997
240 A.D.2d 368 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
Case details for

Haghighi v. Bailer

Case Details

Full title:HOUCHANG HAGHIGHI et al., Appellants, v. HENRY BAILER, Defendant and…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Jun 2, 1997

Citations

240 A.D.2d 368 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
657 N.Y.S.2d 774

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