Velasco v. Green-wood Cemetery

In Velasco v. Green-wood Cemetery (8 AD3d 88 [2004]) the plaintiff sustained injuries after falling from a ladder; the defendants argued that the ladder was not defective, and also that the only cause of the accident was the plaintiff's own negligence in helping to set up the ladder in soil and then using it even though he knew that his co-worker was not holding it. The court held that the defendants' argument "overlooked plaintiff's evidence that no safety devices were provided to protect him in the event the ladder slipped" (Velasco, 8 AD3d at 89). Given an unsecured ladder and no other safety devices, the court held that the plaintiff was not solely to blame for his injuries. The court further noted that "plaintiff's use of the ladder without his co-worker present to secure it amounted, at most, to comparative negligence, which is not a defense to a section 240(1) claim" (Velasco, at 89).