Cornell Grace Wins Appeal In Case Implicating Workers Compensation Bar To Suing Employer, And Summary Judgment Dismissal Of Labor Law Claims Since Plaintiff Was Not A Construction Worker February 13, 2013

Plaintiff, a plumbing maintenance employee, claimed injury from an alleged trip over construction materials. He sued a defunct entity that owned the building where the accident occurred. He also sued the general contractor and the scaffolding subcontractor under the New York State Labor Law. Cornell Grace represented all defendants.

The Workers Compensation Law bars employees from suing their employers for worksite injuries where the employer has provided workers compensation benefits (unless the employee suffers a “grave injury”). In this matter, Cornell Grace established on a Motion to Dismiss that the entity plaintiff had sued was, in fact, plaintiff’s employer, and the claim was therefore barred.  The Labor Law claims were also dismissed due to the fact that plaintiff was performing routine maintenance and therefore not in the class of workers entitled to protection under the statute. Plaintiff appealed, and the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the decision of Supreme Court, Queens County, Justice Sidney Strauss that had dismissed the claims against the institution. Click for Link to the Decision; see Phillips v. Bovis Lend Lease, 103 A.D.3d 698, 960 N.Y.S.2d 140; 2013 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 906; 2013 NY Slip Op 899 (2d Dep’t 2013).

Plaintiff was left only with common law negligence claims against the contractors, and a favorable settlement resulted.