Opinion
Submitted May 6, 1999
June 21, 1999
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, the defendant third-party plaintiff appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Hutcherson, J.), dated April 30, 1998, which denied its motion for summary judgment against the third-party defendant on the issue of common law indemnification.
Robert P. Pagano, White Plains, N.Y., for defendant third-party plaintiff-appellant.
Tarshis Hammerman, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Carol R. Finocchio and Lawrence B. Goodman of counsel), for third-party defendant-respondent.
SONDRA MILLER, J.P., GLORIA GOLDSTEIN, HOWARD MILLER, NANCY E. SMITH, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, and the motion is granted.
The defendant third-party plaintiff, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center Local Development Corporation (hereinafter Greenpoint), was the owner and lessor of premises leased to the third-party defendant, S G Woodworking, Inc. (hereinafter S G), where the plaintiff, a worker employed by S G, was allegedly injured when he fell from a ladder.
Since there is no evidence that Greenpoint supervised, directed, or controlled the work of the plaintiff, Greenpoint established its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of indemnification against the plaintiff's employer, S G ( see, Sprague v. Peckham Materials Corp., 240 A.D.2d 392, 394; Eccleston v. Berakha, 233 A.D.2d 417; Richardson v. Matarese, 206 A.D.2d 354, 355). In opposition, S G failed to establish the existence of triable issues of material fact which would preclude an award of summary judgment in Greenpoint's favor on the issue of indemnification ( see, CPLR 3212[b]).
We note that Greenpoint is entitled to recover its legal expenses incurred in defending the plaintiff's claims against it ( see, Chapel v. Mitchell, 84 N.Y.2d 345, 347-348; Eccleston v. Berakha, supra).