Conditional Indemnification Against Contractor

Saturday, August 12, 2006 | 0

by Larry Rogak

Serrano v St. James Episcopal Church, 2006 NY Slip Op 51511(U) (Decided on July 31, 2006) (Supreme Court, Kings County) (Lewis, J.) (Index no. 7680/03)

In 2001, plaintiff was engaged in a construction project at St. James Episcopal Church in Manhattan, New York. Defendant St. James is the owner of the church property, and defendant Barr was the contractor for the work in question, as well as plaintiff's employer.

On November 5, 2001, the construction crew was doing demolition work in the church "pulling up" certain areas of the floor. As part of this project, plaintiff and a co-worker were carrying a long, heavy wooden beam across the church to place it on a stack of beams to be discarded. Plaintiff was walking backward, while her co-worker was walking forward. As plaintiff stepped back, she heard a "cracking" noise and felt her foot "going through the floor." In response, plaintiff stopped; however, her co-worker kept walking and the beam was pushed into plaintiff causing her to fall backwards. The fall caused plaintiff various injuries, including being cut by "a bunch of debris" on the floor.

Immediately after the accident, plaintiff saw a nearby hole in the floor, which she believed was the cause of the cracking noise she had heard. She testified that the hole was approximately one and a half by two feet, and that you "could look right to the basement" through the hole.

Plaintiff filed suit against defendant St. James for common law negligence and violations of Labor Law