Justice Saliann Scarpulla
Prosky, a self-employed wallpaper installer, alleged that he was injured when he stepped off an empty five-gallon compound bucket onto painters’ debris or other material on the floor at a construction project site that consisted of the renovation of the Doubletree Hotel ballroom in Tarrytown. Prosky contended that he stood on the bucket for about 45 seconds while showing the painters an area on the wall that needed to be patched, and that when his feet touched an unidentified object on the floor, they slid out from underneath him, causing him to fall and sustain personal injury. Defendant Finishing Touches subcontracted the wallpaper portion of the job to a wallpaper consultant and designer subcontractor, which hired Prosky. Among other things, the court denied the motion for summary judgment in Finishing Touches’ favor, finding issues of fact as to whether the debris actually existed, was accurately described, or was created by Finishing Touches.
