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Novoa v. Woodson Incorporated

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Jul 12, 1996
229 A.D.2d 934 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)

Opinion

July 12, 1996

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Erie County, Forma, J.

Present — Denman, P.J., Green, Wesley, Balio and Boehm, JJ.


Order unanimously reversed on the law without costs, motion granted and complaint against defendant Joseph Davis, Inc., doing business as Davis Refrigeration, Inc., dismissed. Memorandum: Supreme Court erred in denying the motion of defendant Joseph Davis, Inc., doing business as Davis Refrigeration, Inc. (Davis), for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against it.

Gary Novoa (plaintiff) was injured when he fell from a ladder that he used to reach a refrigeration system in a storage freezer. That system had been installed by Davis almost seven years before the accident. The ladder was surrounded by a safety cage. As plaintiff attempted to climb down the ladder, his jacket became caught in a bend in the safety cage. Plaintiff fell approximately 15 feet while attempting to free himself. The ladder and an attached catwalk were designed and installed by defendant Woodson Incorporated (Woodson), and were manufactured by defendant Herr Sacco, Inc., which supplied it to Woodson. In his complaint, plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that Davis negligently designed and installed the ladder and failed to warn of the ladder's dangerous condition.

In support of its motion, Davis established that it owed no duty to plaintiff because it did not design, install, maintain, own or control the ladder ( see, Gerdowsky v. Crain's N.Y. Bus., 188 A.D.2d 93, 95-96). Any training provided by Davis to plaintiff or his coemployees related only to maintenance of the refrigeration system, a mechanism separate and independent from the ladder and catwalk.


Summaries of

Novoa v. Woodson Incorporated

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Jul 12, 1996
229 A.D.2d 934 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)
Case details for

Novoa v. Woodson Incorporated

Case Details

Full title:GARY NOVOA et al., Respondents, v. WOODSON INCORPORATED et al.…

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

Date published: Jul 12, 1996

Citations

229 A.D.2d 934 (N.Y. App. Div. 1996)
645 N.Y.S.2d 191

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