Decisions of Interest
Soltes v. Turner Construction Company, et al.
Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 154706/2012
In Soltes v. Turner Construction Company, et al., plaintiff moved for partial summary judgment on the Labor Law §240 claim alleging a mobile crane was improperly operated and resulted in plaintiff being struck by the crane cable. Malapero & Prisco, representing the owner and general contractor, opposed the motion and cross-moved on the Labor Law §240, §241(6), §200, and common law negligence claims. The Court denied plaintiff’s motion on the issue of Labor Law §240 and granted defendants’ cross-motion dismissing plaintiff’s Labor Law §200, §241(6), §240, and common law negligence claims. The Court held that defendants demonstrated that the use of any safety device as enumerated in the statute to prevent plaintiff’s incident would have been illogical and contrary to plaintiff’s work objective. As a result, the Court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint.