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Spano v. Meli

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Feb 1, 1991
170 A.D.2d 976 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)

Opinion

February 1, 1991

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

Present — Callahan, J.P., Denman, Balio, Lawton and Davis, JJ.


Order unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed without costs, in accordance with the following Memorandum: Supreme Court erroneously dismissed plaintiff's claim against defendants under Labor Law § 240 (1). The court further erred in denying plaintiff's cross motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability with respect to his claim under that statute. Absolute liability is imposed on defendants, the owner and contractor, where, as here, plaintiff was engaged in the performance of his work at the time he fell from an elevated worksite (see, Collins v County of Monroe Indus. Dev. Agency, 167 A.D.2d 914; Allen v City of Buffalo, 161 A.D.2d 1134) and there were no safety or protective devices in place at the time of his fall (see, Bland v Manocherian, 66 N.Y.2d 452; Zimmer v Chemung County Performing Arts, 65 N.Y.2d 513, rearg denied 65 N.Y.2d 1054; Allen v City of Buffalo, supra).

Supreme Court properly granted summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's claim under Labor Law § 241 (6) because plaintiff failed to advance a plausible claim under this statute (see generally, DaBolt v Bethlehem Steel Corp., 92 A.D.2d 70, 73, lv dismissed 60 N.Y.2d 554). Plaintiff's claim under Labor Law § 200 was also properly dismissed because there has been no showing that defendants were negligent or that they had actual or constructive notice of an unsafe condition causing the accident (see, DaBolt v Bethlehem Steel Corp., supra, at 73).

Finally, we note that the propriety of the order of Supreme Court granting summary judgment to the third-party defendant, P.D.S. Contracting Co., Inc., against defendant and third-party plaintiff, Stephen Meli, doing business as Apex Maintenance Contractors is not properly before us on this appeal.


Summaries of

Spano v. Meli

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Feb 1, 1991
170 A.D.2d 976 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)
Case details for

Spano v. Meli

Case Details

Full title:DANIEL SPANO, Appellant, v. STEPHEN MELI, Doing Business as APEX…

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

Date published: Feb 1, 1991

Citations

170 A.D.2d 976 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991)