Roberts v. General Electric Company, 97 NY2d 737, 768 N.E.2d 1127, 742 N.Y.S.2d 188 (2002), was a case where the plaintiff was injured by a falling piece of asbestos which had been cut and deliberately dropped from approximately 12 feet above ground.

In Roberts, the Court found that:

"the asbestos 'that fell on plaintiff was not a material being hoisted or a load that required securing for the purposes of the undertaking at the time it fell and thus Labor Law § 240 (1) does not apply. ... This was not a situation where a hoisting or securing device of the kind enumerated in the statute would have been necessary or even expected'". (Roberts, 97 NY2d at 738, quoting Narducci, 96 NY2d at 268).