Reid v. Lehrer McGovern Bovis

In Reid v. Lehrer McGovern Bovis, 248 AD2d 324 [1st Dept 1998] plaintiff alleged violations of Labor Law 200, 240(1) and 241(6) for injuries he sustained when he fell off a ladder while working on the 11th floor of a building. On plaintiff's appeal of the dismissal of his Complaint, the First Department first noted that the 1990 contract between plaintiff's employer and the project owner, referring to defendant as construction manager and calling for sheet metal work, was not the contract under which plaintiff was working at the time of his accident. Instead, the Court continued, the 1992 contract under which plaintiff was working was between plaintiff's employer and the project owner for HVAC work and specifically referred to the "project: 11th floor." Defendant was not mentioned in the "11th floor" contract. Further, there was "documentary evidence" i.e., a contract showing that defendant's presence in the building at the time of the accident was related to work on other floors of the building. The Court then stated that plaintiff's assertions that persons on the 11th floor giving him instructions were defendant's employees was "too speculative to raise a genuine issue of fact."