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Gass v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 15, 1991
169 A.D.2d 486 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

January 15, 1991

Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Myriam Altman, J.).


Plaintiff, while working as a hoist operator for Lehr Construction (Lehr) at a construction site owned by The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States (Equitable), was injured when he fell from a ground-level platform constructed by the general contractor Turner Construction Company (Turner).

After plaintiff brought an action against Equitable and Turner to recover damages for physical injuries sustained, and those defendants brought a third-party action against Lehr, Lehr commenced a fourth-party action for contribution/indemnification against Heydt Construction, a subcontractor at the site that was responsible for erecting and dismantling sidewalk bridges, hoist towers and scaffolding. The record reveals that the IAS court properly granted fourth-party defendant Heydt's motion to dismiss the fourth-party complaint and all cross claims asserted against it, as Heydt demonstrated that defendant Turner was responsible for constructing and maintaining the platform where the accident occurred. Although Lehr's counsel produced three letters addressed from Heydt to Turner in which Heydt indicated it had inspected various platforms at the construction site, the sender of those letters, in an affidavit, stated that the "platforms" referred to upper-landing platforms which Heydt had constructed and not the ground-level one involved herein. Lehr's counsel's affidavit, which suggested that the reference to "platforms" included the subject ground-level platform, was not based on personal knowledge and thus lacked probative value.

Concur — Carro, J.P., Ellerin, Ross, Asch and Kassal, JJ.


Summaries of

Gass v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 15, 1991
169 A.D.2d 486 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

Gass v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States

Case Details

Full title:HENRY GASS et al., Plaintiffs, v. EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY OF THE…

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

Date published: Jan 15, 1991

Citations

169 A.D.2d 486 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
564 N.Y.S.2d 359