Shockingly Favorable Appellate Outcome

In a case involving a sheet metal worker who, while installing a ceiling duct cap, fell off an A-frame ladder after receiving an electrical shock from an overhead junction box, Josh H. Kardisch and Margaret Mazlin persuaded the Appellate Division, First Department, to reverse the lower court’s summary determination of plaintiff’s Labor Law §240(1) claim. The outcome was particularly impressive having come on the heels of the recent decision in Cutaia v. Board of Managers of the Varick St. Condominium, 172 AD3d 424 (1st Dep’t, 2019), which weighed heavily in favor of the same appellate court affirming the summary determination of plaintiff’s Labor Law §240(1) claim. This is a critical turning point for the defense of our client, plaintiff’s employer, against cross-claims from all the other defendants because it may very well preclude several of them from getting a pass through to our client assuming a favorable jury determination at trial, which will result in a significant reduction of exposure given that plaintiff allegedly sustained a debilitating, traumatic brain injury.