Justice Francois Rivera
Plaintiff moved for summary judgment on the issue of liability on his Labor Law §240(1) violation claim. Plaintiff was employed to remove the roof of a building owned by Ellis and was seriously injured when a wooden surface he was standing on collapsed, and he fell through to the third floor below. He noted he was provided with a hard hat helmet, but no other safety devices. Plaintiff’s supervisor testified plaintiff was provided a safety harness and 20 feet of rope. He noted he saw plaintiff wear the harness and anchor the rope to a beam, but despite same plaintiff fell through the wooden beams hitting the third floor, approximately 11 feet below. The court stated while the supervisor’s testimony contradicted plaintiff’s, it did not raise a triable issue of fact as the 20 foot rope and harness provided to plaintiff failed to protect him from the 11 foot elevation-related risk he was exposed to. Therefore, even fully crediting the supervisor’s testimony, the court concluded there was no triable issue of fact that plaintiff was injured based on Ellis’ failure to provide adequate safety devices to protect him from the elevation-related risks of his job, granting judgment on the issue of liability under §240(1).
