By its express terms, § 240(1) applies to "contractors and owners and their agents." A party is deemed to be an owner or general contractor's agent when it has supervisory control and authority over the work being done. For liability to attach, the defendant must have the authority to control the activity bringing about the injury so that it could have avoided or corrected the unsafe condition. The determinative factor is whether the defendant had the right to exercise control over the work, not whether it actually exercised that right.
Cabrera v. Arrow Steel Window Corp., NY Slip Op 05275 (2d Dep't July 18, 2018)
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