Toefer v. Long Island R.R

In Toefer v. Long Island R.R., 308 A.D.2d 579, 764 N.Y.S.2d 865, (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't, 2003), Casey was working on a large and stable surface only four feet from the ground. That is not a situation that calls for the use of a device like those listed in section 240 (1) to prevent a worker from falling. Plaintiffs in Toefer argue that a hoist, which is one of the devices listed in the statute, should have been used instead of wooden poles to lower the beams from the truck, but this argument misconceives the issue. Labor Law 240 (1) is arguably implicated in this case only because Casey fell from the truck's trailer to the ground. The purpose of a hoist here would not have been to prevent Casey from falling; it would have been to prevent the beams themselves from doing damage. But Casey was not injured by a beam, or by any falling object; the object that struck him inexplicably flew at him either upwards or horizontally. His injury, horrendous as it is, is not attributable to the sort of elevation-related risk that Labor Law 240 (1) was meant to address.