Opinion
14906 Index No. 26335/15E Case No. 2019–4699
12-28-2021
Eliezer CABAN, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. 1691 FULTON AVENUE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND CORPORATION et al., Defendants–Respondents.
Jaroslawicz & Jaros PLLC, New York (David Tolchin of counsel), for appellant. Perry, Van Etten, Rozanski & Kutner, LLP, New York (Jessica J. Beauvais of counsel), for respondents.
Jaroslawicz & Jaros PLLC, New York (David Tolchin of counsel), for appellant.
Perry, Van Etten, Rozanski & Kutner, LLP, New York (Jessica J. Beauvais of counsel), for respondents.
Kern, J.P., Mendez, Shulman, Higgitt, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Lizbeth Gonza´lez, J.), entered April 30, 2019, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the Labor Law §§ 240(1) and 241(6) claims, and denied plaintiff's cross motion for partial summary judgment on those claims and to strike defendants' affirmative defense based on the Workers' Compensation Law, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Plaintiff's limited task of replacing a ballast in a light fixture constitutes routine maintenance and thus is not covered by Labor Law § 240(1) (see Monaghan v. 540 Inv. Land Co. LLC, 66 A.D.3d 605, 605, 888 N.Y.S.2d 24 [1st Dept. 2009] ).
Labor Law § 241(6) is inapplicable to plaintiff's claim because his work was unrelated to construction, excavation, or demolition (see Esposito v. New York City Indus. Dev. Agency, 1 N.Y.3d 526, 770 N.Y.S.2d 682, 802 N.E.2d 1080 [2003] ; Parente v. 277 Park Ave. LLC, 63 A.D.3d 613, 614, 883 N.Y.S.2d 22 [1st Dept. 2009] ).
In light of the fact that plaintiff has no other claims remaining, the issue of the Workers' Compensation defense is academic.