Zdrojeski v. Gramercy Court Associates

In Zdrojeski v. Gramercy Court Associates, 195 A.D.2d 552 [2d Dept 1993] the plaintiff was an employee of a subcontractor at a construction site that was visited by a group known as the "Beach Economic Survival Coalition." After meeting with, what appears to have been, the general contractor, the Coalition members entered the building and caused property damage. When they reached the basement, where Plaintiff was standing on a 12-foot ladder, they pushed him off the ladder. Plaintiff sued, among others, the general contractor and the contractor that hired his employer. The court found "no proof in the record that the contractor had notice of any potential for criminal activity at the construction site. The contractor therefore had no duty to protect the plaintiff against possible incursions by the Coalition or any other mob." (Zdrojeski v. Gramercy Court Associates, supra, at 554.) However, without explanation, the court suggested that the general contractor might be held liable. (Id.)