Practice point: The plaintiff allegedly was injured while lifting a bag of coins as part of his assigned duties as an armored car service's courier for an armored car service. The plaintiff commenced this action against the owner of the bank where the incident occurred, alleging that the defendant and its employees created a dangerous and defective condition by allowing the bag of coins to be overfilled.
The defendant established its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by submitting evidence demonstrating that the subject bag of coins was not over an accepted or contractually agreed upon weight at the time of the alleged incident, and that the plaintiff's injury resulted from a risk inherent in his assigned work as a courier for the service.
Student note: In addition, the defendant demonstrated that the plaintiff elected to lift the bag with only one hand. Where, as here, a worker confronts the ordinary and obvious hazards of the employment, and has the time and other resources, perhaps a co-worker who might assist, to enable the work to be done safely, he may not hold others responsible if he chooses to perform the job so incautiously as to be injured.
Case: Sepulveda-Vega v. Suffolk Bancorp., NY Slip Op 05419 (2d Dept. 2014)
Here is the decision.
Monday's issue: An auto accident, and summary judgement as to liability denied.
