From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Rodriguez v. 3251 Third Avenue LLC

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 4, 2011
80 A.D.3d 434 (N.Y. App. Div. 2011)

Opinion

No. 3989.

January 4, 2011.

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Cynthia S. Kern, J.), entered on or about December 28, 2009, which denied plaintiffs motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability under Labor Law § 240 (1), unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion granted.

Pollack, Pollack, Isaac De Cicco, New York (Brian J. Isaac of counsel), for appellant.

Herzfeld Rubin, PC, New York (Linda M. Brown of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Tom, J.P., Moskowitz, Freedman, Richter and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.


Plaintiff testified that he fell off an unsecured ladder while preparing to paint office space in a building owned by defendant 3251 Third Avenue LLC. No issue of fact as to plaintiffs version of events or his credibility is raised by the absence of corroboration of his testimony or by anything in the record, whether in the testimony itself or in evidence presented by defendant ( see Perrone v Tishman Speyer Props., L.P., 13 AD3d 146; Wise v 141 McDonald Ave., 297 AD2d 515, 517; Gontarzewski v City of New York, 257 AD2d 394; Robinson v NAB Constr. Corp., 210 AD2d 86; Urrea v Sedgwick Ave. Assoc., 191 AD2d 319).

In an attempt to raise an issue of fact whether plaintiff was an employee entitled to the protections of the Labor Law, defendant submitted an unsworn statement by plaintiffs employer that he did not know plaintiff and that plaintiff did not work for him. This statement is hearsay, unaccompanied by any other evidence tending to show that plaintiffs presence on the work site was not authorized, and is therefore insufficient to demonstrate the existence of a question of fact ( see Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig., 7 AD3d 285).


Summaries of

Rodriguez v. 3251 Third Avenue LLC

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Jan 4, 2011
80 A.D.3d 434 (N.Y. App. Div. 2011)
Case details for

Rodriguez v. 3251 Third Avenue LLC

Case Details

Full title:CESAR RODRIGUEZ, Appellant, v. 3251 THIRD AVENUE LLC, Respondent, et al.…

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

Date published: Jan 4, 2011

Citations

80 A.D.3d 434 (N.Y. App. Div. 2011)
2011 N.Y. Slip Op. 22
914 N.Y.S.2d 142

Citing Cases

Schaeffer v. Goldman Sachs Headquarters, LLC

The absence of corroborating testimony does not by itself raise an issue of fact or abnegate defendants'…

Rodriguez v. City of N.Y.

Plaintiffs also misplace their reliance on a newspaper quote attributed to a neighborhood resident who…