(914) 220-1086
Over the last two years, 31 construction workers have died in New York City, an ominous downside to the city’s construction boom. Critics of the lax regulations that have allowed construction sites to become so dangerous point to the decline of unions that once protected workers from hazardous conditions. According to the Department of Buildings, construction injuries increased by […]
Construction Accidents
Plaintiff Granted Partial Summary Judgment in Labor Law 240 Case
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiff in a ladder / elevation case under Labor Law 240. The plaintiff was an electrician for Atlas-Acon Electric Service who was working on NBC property in New York City. The plaintiff ascended an A-frame ladder in order to replace the ballasts […]
New York Plaintiff Construction Worker’s Case Dismissed for Alleging the Wrong Labor Law Claims
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department dismissed an entire personal injury case because the construction worker plaintiff failed to state any claims in his appeal under which he could be entitled to any relief. The plaintiff was working on a construction site owned by the defendant. The plaintiff stepped on a flatbed trailer that […]
Glass Door Falls on Construction Worker Because of Broken Hinge; Denial of Summary Judgment for Defendant Affirmed by First Department
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department affirmed a trial court’s order denying summary judgment for two defendants after a glass door fell on the construction worker plaintiff. The plaintiff was working at a construction site in New York City. The site was owned by Prudential, and Pinnacle was managing the project. The […]
Construction Company Held Liable for Falling Brick that Hit Construction Worker
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department reversed a trial court order that denied a construction worker plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment regarding a Labor Law 240 (1) claim involving a falling brick. The plaintiff was a construction worker. The defendants were two construction companies working together on a construction project. During a […]
Fourth Department Holds Employer Liable for Unsafe Scaffolding
In its January, 2015 Decision, Bernard & Bernard v. Town of Lysander, 2015 CA 14-00649 ✎ EditSign , the Appellate Division, Fourth Department has reversed an order of the Supreme Court of Onondaga County that denied the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment relating to a fall that was caused by unsafe scaffolding at a construction site. […]
Exemptions from the Scaffold Act
Earlier on the New York Injury Lawyers Blog, we discussed New York’s Scaffold Act- officially known as Labor Law § 240 – and how the strict liability imposed on contractors and owners by that law imposes liability upon employers when laborers fall during the course of their work. A related issue is to whom, exactly, the […]
Long Island Contractor Fined Over $460K for Repeated Fall and Scaffolding Violations
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the governmental agency responsible for workplace safety, fined Painting & Decorating Inc., a Ronkonkoma based painting and stucco contractor, $460,350 for chronic and repeated fall and scaffolding violations in December 2013. The Long Island company received 10 citations and fines totaling $429,600. Over the past several years, the company […]
NY Construction Company Fined $165,000 after Crane Collapses on Yacht
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) fined Concavage Marine Construction Co., a marine contractor based in Port Chester, New York, $165,000 in May 2014 for a crane accident that occurred over a year ago in Stamford, Connecticut. The accident damaged a $120,000 yacht. The company was issued sixteen citations for crane safety violations. OSHA inspectors concluded that the […]
Family of Son Killed in NYC Crane Accident Awarded $1 Million Settlement
Michael and Colleen Simermeyer, the parents of Michael Simermeyer, a 30-year-old construction worker who was killed in a crane accident in April 2012, received a $1 million settlement in 2013 after they filed a wrongful death lawsuit over their son’s death. According to the lawsuit, Yonkers Contracting, the main contractor at an MTA construction project site, failed […]
OSHA Fines NY Contractors $465,000 for Operating Crane Near Dangerous High Voltage Power Lines
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the governmental agency tasked with enforcing safety regulations in the workplace, recently fined three New York contractors a total of $465,410 for operating a crane near a 13,200 volt power line at a worksite in Valley Stream. The contractors, Vordonia Contracting and Supplies, Masonry Services, Inc., and North Eastern Precast, […]
Former NYC Employee Sentenced to Probation for Falsifying Crane Inspection Records
Justice Thomas Farber of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan sentenced former city employee Edward J. Marquette, 51, to five years probation in February 2013 for falsifying crane inspection records. In July 2012, Farber found Marquette guilty of filing a false instrument, falsifying business records and official misconduct. However, Marquette was found not guilty of […]
Three Workers Trapped after Crane Collapses in Long Island City
A 380-foot red crane collapsed on January 8, 2013 at a construction site on Center Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens. Seven workers at the site were injured and had to be taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. According to Deputy Fire Chief Mark Ferran, three of the seven workers were trapped under the […]
Plaintiff Granted Partial Summary Judgment in New York Labor Law Claim
Partial summary judgment was granted for the plaintiff in an April labor law suit in Manhattan. The plaintiff’s husband had been working on a lift fixing the ceiling of the defendant property owner when he fell to his death. The First Department granted the plaintiff summary judgment on her Labor Law 240 claim. Pursuant to […]
WTC Worker Falls on 58th Floor
A construction worker employed at the future site of 4 World Trade Center fell while working on the 58th story. According to reports, the worker slipped, puncturing himself with a steel rod that he was holding at the time. At the time of this post, additional details were not available. Potentially, this worker could be […]
Summary Judgment for Defendant Reversed, Entered for Plaintiff in Labor Law 240 Suit
A Third Department Appellate Court recently ruled that an employee who fell from a ladder did, in fact, come under the protection of Labor Law 240, commonly known as the Scaffold Act. The plaintiff was installing a cable line at a subscriber’s house at the time. He had finished the installation, and proceeded to check […]
Summary Judgment In Favor Of Plaintiff Affirmed in New York Labor Law Construction Accident
The Supreme Court of New York, Third Department (appellate court), recently upheld a summary judgment decision for the plaintiff, Joseph Miranda III, in a construction accident lawsuit. Miranda sustained a traumatic brain injury in a fall of approximately 30 feet at an Albany construction site. Commonly referred to as “The Scaffold Act,” Labor Law section […]
Manslaughter Indictment Stands in 2008 Crane Accident Case
A Manhattan court upheld a manslaughter indictment in the 2008 crane collapse that killed two workers. James Lomma, owner of New York Crane and Equipment, will face the manslaughter charges when the case goes to trial. Tibor Varganyi, former mechanic for New York Crane and Equipment, is also charged in the case. The crane collapse […]
Worker Seriously Injured In Ramapo, New York Construction Accident
A 26-year-old man working at the construction site for the Ramapo baseball stadium was injured Wednesday when the construction vehicle he was driving tipped over and ejected him from the driver’s seat. Joseph Delaney of Middletown, N.Y. was carrying a load of steel rods with the forklift-type vehicle just before noon Wednesday when the accident […]
Crane Company Owner Indicted After Two 2008 New York City Deaths
New York Prosecutors have indicted James Lomma, a crane company owner, on manslaughter and other charges stemming from the 2008 deaths of two New York City workers. The incident occurred when the giant crane snapped and crashed into a Manhattan apartment building, only two months after another crane collapsed in Manhattan killing seven people. The […]
Westchester (NY) Construction Accident Attorney Report: 55 Year-Old Worker Dies After Fall From Bridge
A January 29, 2010 construction accident in New York remains under investigation. Robert Fitzgerald, a 55-year-old North Arlington man, fell from the Wittpenn Bridge at around 4:30 am. Fitzgerald who worked for CSX Rail Line is believed to have lost consciousness after the fall as a result of hypothermia. When rescue workers found Fitzgerald’s body, […]
Fall From Scaffold On Brooklyn (NYC) Construction Site Results in $2.5 Million Pre-Trial Settlement
A 50 year-old construction worker fell from a 15 foot scaffold while working on a residential construction site in Park Slope, Brooklyn (NYC). The plaintiff was painting an exterior wall of a four-story condominium at the time of the fall. The scaffold’s platform collapsed, and he fell approximately 15 feet. He suffered fractures of both […]
