6/20/2006
Mejia v. Levenbaum
The Appellate Division, First Department, reversed the lower court’s decision denying our motion for summary judgment. In this appeal, Kathleen M. Mulholland successfully argued that our client, as an out of possession landlord, had no knowledge of ongoing work on its premises and could not be held liable under Labor Law 200 or under common law negligence theories. Although our insured designed the stairs upon which the plaintiff fell, we were able to successfully argue to the Court that the plaintiff did not sufficiently prove a defect in the stairs. Moreover, since the plaintiff was only involved in clean up work at the time of his accident, the Court held that this was not the type of work protected under Labor Law §241(6). The other defendants, however, remained in the case