Practice point: Plaintiff was injured when he was standing on a temporary wooden step which shifted as he was moving an air tank up a concrete stairway from the basement of the work site to the first floor. The court found an issue of fact as to whether the temporary step was there to aid employees in ascending the stairway to different levels of the site, and thus constituted a device to protect employees against elevation-related risks within the meaning of § 240(1).
Student note: Defendant had general supervisory authority at the work site, which is insufficient to trigger liability under Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence principles .
Case: Morris v. City of New York, NY Slip Op 06534 (1st Dept. 2011).
Tomorrow's issue: Municipalities Law.
