Issue: Does New York Labor Law 240 (1) apply to all workplace falls?
| Area of Law: | Employee Law, Personal Injury & Negligence |
| Keywords: | Workplace falls; Work at a height |
| Jurisdiction: | New York |
| Cited Cases: | 222 A.D.2d 775; 634 N.Y.S.2d 272 |
| Cited Statutes: | New York Labor Law 240 (1) |
| Date: | 05/01/2000 |
If a plaintiff’s work does not itself involve work at a height, there is no violation of Labor law 240(1). In Straight v. McCarthy Bros. Constr., 222 A.D.2d 775, 634 N.Y.S.2d 272 (3rd Dep’t 1995), the Third Department, Appellate Division held that a plumber who fell from an elevated plank, used for access into a building, to the ground was not protected under Labor Law 240(1) because his work, repairing a boiler in the basement of the house, did not involve work at a height, and as such, it was not necessary for the general contractor or owner to provide him with devices to protect him from work at a height. The reasoning being that he did not work at an elevation when he worked on the boiler.
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