The Court of Appeals has not rendered any rulings concerning construction accident litigation since February 2020, when it split 4 to 3 in Biaca-Neto v. Boston Road Hous., 34 N.Y.3d 1166 (2020), a case analyzed in these pages last year. In the absence of any newsworthy, “landmark” rulings, I instead focus on several Appellate Division rulings which, for one reason or another, are novel or noteworthy (or both). Two of those rulings have implications beyond the confines of construction accident litigation.

All in the Family

Labor Law §§240 and 241(6) impose liability in certain instances, but each statute expressly exempts “owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work.”