Opinion
Submitted April 17, 2000.
June 12, 2000.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Orange County (Peter C. Patsalos, J.), dated December 13, 1999, which denied his motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability on the first cause of action which was to recover damages for a violation of Labor Law § 240(1).
Lewis Stanzione, Catskill, N.Y., for appellant.
Drake, Sommers, Loeb, Tarshis Catania, P.C., Newburgh, N Y (Richard F. Liberth and Stephen J. Gaba of counsel), for respondent.
Before: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., MYRIAM J. ALTMAN, GABRIEL M. KRAUSMAN, SANDRA J. FEUERSTEIN, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
Contrary to the plaintiff's contention, the Supreme Court properly denied his motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability on the first cause of action which was to recover damages for a violation of Labor Law § 240(1). The plaintiff's evidentiary submissions, which consisted primarily of his testimony at the hearing held pursuant to General Municipal Law § 50-h, were insufficient to establish the manner in which the accident occurred and how the plaintiff's injuries were sustained. Thus it cannot be determined, as a matter of law, that the plaintiff's injuries were caused by a gravity-related accident within the intended scope of Labor Law § 240(1) (see, Ross v. Curtis-Palmer Hydro Elec. Co., 81 N.Y.2d 494; Rocovich v. Consolidated Edison Co., 78 N.Y.2d 509). Moreover, since the plaintiff moved for summary judgment before the defendant had an opportunity to conduct any discovery, under the circumstances of this case, summary judgment would be premature at this point (see, CPLR 3212[f]; Hoxha v. City of New York, 265 A.D.2d 379).