New York Case Law Update

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | 0

NEW! Ginter v. Flushing Terrace, 2012-04513, (10/15/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that a property owner and general contractor on a construction project were entitled to summary judgment on one aspect of a worker's Labor Law claims against it, and that they should not have had their claims against various subcontractors dismissed.

NEW! Guallpa v. Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp., 11819 301817/10, (10/02/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that a construction worker could not prevail on Labor Law claims based on his alleged injuries from a stone block that fell from a stack on a pallet, as a matter of law.

NEW! Jones v. County of Erie, 971 CA 13-01845, (10/03/2014): A New York appellate court rejected a tree-trimmer's Labor Law and negligence claims arising from an accident where he fell from a tree.

NEW! Dowdell v. Office of Family & Children Services, 518145, (10/02/2014): An aide at a center for juvenile delinquents was entitled to benefits for the psyche conditions that arose as a result of his physical injuries from an altercation with a resident, a New York appellate court ruled.

NEW! Dreher v. DiNapoli, 518425, (10/02/2014): A court officer who was struck by a car while getting a cup of coffee while on duty was not entitled to disability retirement benefits, a New York appellate court ruled.

NEW! Hyland v. New York State Comptroller, 518446, (10/02/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that a police officer who injured himself while disposing of property at a landfill when his glove got caught on a bracket from a chair he was throwing from the back of a truck was not entitled to an accidental disability retirement.

NEW! Griffiths v. FC-Canal, 12906 307285/09, (09/19/2014): A construction worker who was told to remove some ice buildup from a job site could not assert a Labor Law claim based on his fall on the ice he was supposed to be removing, a New York appellate court ruled.

NEW! Narro v. MMC Holding of Brooklyn, 2013-02677, (09/17/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that a worker's claim for damages based on an alleged fall in the parking lot of her workplace had to go through the Workers' Compensation Board before she could pursue a personal injury action.

NEW! Treile v. Brooklyn Tillary, 2012-07957 and 2013-00907, (09/10/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that a construction worker who was "catapulted" into the air when a bundle of rebar fell onto the wooden plank he was standing on should not have had his Labor Law and negligence claims dismissed on summary judgment.

NEW! Khomitch v. Crotched Mountain Community, 518297, (09/04/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that the Special Fund for Reopened Cases has standing to litigate whether a carrier's payment to an injured worker, just before the carrier sought to transfer liability for the claim to the fund, was a reimbursement for out-of-pocket medical expenses or a disguised payment of indemnity benefits that would preclude transfer of liability. 

NEW! Wait v. Hudson Valley Community College, 517270, (09/04/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that a worker's fall, while entering her workplace on crutches, was compensable.

NEW! Van Etten v. Mohawk Valley Community College, 517501, (09/04/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that the state Workers' Compensation Board did not abuse its discretion in declining to disqualify a worker from receiving future wage replacement benefits after finding the worker had misrepresented the extent of his disability from an industrial injury.

NEW! Schwartz v. State Insurance Fund, 516033, (09/04/2014): A New York appellate court upheld a decision by the Workers' Compensation Board to expand a worker's award for benefits based on her pscyhe conditions to include her alleged cardiac problems.

NEW! Cruz v. Cablevision Systems Corp., 2012-08270, (08/27/2014): A New York appellate court ruled that a "perimeter warning system," which provided an alert to workers that they were nearing the edge of the roof of a building was not a "safety device" within the meaning of Labor Law Section 240(1).

NEW! Munion v. Trustees of Columbia University, 2014-01155, (08/27/2014): A coat checker working at Columbia University through a staffing agency could not assert a viable tort claim against the school based on a workplace fall since it qualified as her special employer and she had already received workers' compensation benefits from her direct employer, a New York appellate court ruled.