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Madden v. Trustees of the Duryea Presbyterian Church

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 19, 1994
210 A.D.2d 382 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)

Opinion

December 19, 1994

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Golden, J.).


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

With one exception that is not applicable here, Labor Law § 240 (1) protects all laborers employed in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning, or pointing of a building or structure, including self-employed independent contractors, even if the owner of the building or structure exercises no supervision, direction, or control over their work (Gordon v Eastern Ry. Supply, 82 N.Y.2d 555; Haimes v New York Tel. Co., 46 N.Y.2d 132; DeMattia v Van Westerhaut Mola Social Sport Club, 204 A.D.2d 594; Torillo v Kiperman, 183 A.D.2d 821; Crawford v Leimzider, 100 A.D.2d 568).

The injured plaintiff established a prima facie case pursuant to Labor Law § 240 (1) by showing that he fell when the unsecured ladder upon which he was descending slipped from underneath him (see, Bryan v City of New York, 206 A.D.2d 448; Whalen v Sciame Constr. Co., 198 A.D.2d 501; Dennis v Beltrone Constr. Co., 195 A.D.2d 688; Rodriguez v New York City Hous. Auth., 194 A.D.2d 460; Fernandez v MHP Land Assocs., 188 A.D.2d 417). The defendant failed to show that the injured plaintiff's injuries were caused by anything but the unsecured ladder (see, Gordon v Eastern Ry. Supply, supra). Furthermore, the recalcitrant worker defense is inapplicable to this case because the injured plaintiff's failure to have someone secure the ladder is not the equivalent of the refusal to use an available safety device (see, Stolt v General Foods Corp., 81 N.Y.2d 918; Madigan v United Parcel Serv., 193 A.D.2d 1102; cf., Cannata v One Estate, 127 A.D.2d 811). Joy, J.P., Friedmann, Krausman and Florio, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Madden v. Trustees of the Duryea Presbyterian Church

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Dec 19, 1994
210 A.D.2d 382 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)
Case details for

Madden v. Trustees of the Duryea Presbyterian Church

Case Details

Full title:JOSEPH MADDEN et al., Respondents, v. TRUSTEES OF THE DURYEA PRESBYTERIAN…

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

Date published: Dec 19, 1994

Citations

210 A.D.2d 382 (N.Y. App. Div. 1994)
620 N.Y.S.2d 424

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