A Court of Claims judge has found the state 100 percent liable in a Labor Law §240 case where an injured worker does not know how the accident occurred, but does know that he was struck by a cable while working underneath a bridge.
Judge Jeremiah Moriarty III (See Profile) of Buffalo rejected the state's request for a directed verdict and said the precise cause of the accident is of no consequence under the strict liability statute since it is obvious the worker was struck by a cable that fell from above. Why and how the cable fell, the judge found, does not matter because there was no netting or device in place to protect the worker from a falling object.
