As I’ve said in columns past, Appellate Division dissents are often illuminating because they tend to focus on the fault lines of the law, the boundaries within which reasonable people may differ.

I today consider two issues that recently generated Appellate Division dissents. One issue, concerning construction and application of one of the most often cited Rule 23 subdivisions, is representative of the maddening illogic which pervades the rules which govern liability under Labor Law §241(6). As I point out below, the illogic follows from a Court of Appeals ruling that now nears its 30th anniversary. The other issue concerns application of the workers’ compensation bar, and is but another reminder that the world of 2021 is generally a very friendly place for corporations and other non-human “persons.”