Opinion
Submitted October 4, 2000
October 30, 2000.
Rebore, Thorpe Pisarello, P.C., Farmingdale, N.Y. (William J. Pisarello of counsel), for appellants.
John Chambers, New York, N.Y. (Perry D. Silver of counsel), for respondent.
In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for wrongful death, the defendants appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Schneier, J.), dated February 4, 2000, which denied their motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
RITTER, J.P., THOMPSON, FRIEDMANN, H. MILLER and FEUERSTEIN, JJ., concur.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the motion is granted, and the complaint is dismissed.
The exceptions to strict liability for owners of one — or two-family residences in Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6) were "enacted to protect those people who, lacking business sophistication, would not know or anticipate the need to obtain insurance to cover them against the absolute liability" (Milan v. Goldman, 254 A.D.2d 263, 264; see also, Lombardi v. Stout, 80 N.Y.2d 290, 296; Van Amerogen v. Donnini, 78 N.Y.2d 880, 882). The Supreme Court erred in denying the defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. Under the facts of this case, the defendants were entitled to the statutory exception (cf., Mandelos v. Karavasidis, 86 N.Y.2d 767).