Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP

On December 20, 2023, WCM obtained sumamry judgment on behalf of our homeowner-client in Suffolk County Supreme Court, largely based on the one and two-family dwelling exemption to the Labor Law. When there is common law and Labor Law § 200 claims, an owner may be held liable of he/she either created the dangerous condition that caused the accident or had actual or constructive notice of its existence. However, a “property owner has no duty to protect or warn against an open and obvious condition, which as a matter of law is not inherently dangerous… or where the allegedly dangerous condition can be recognized simply as a matter of common sense.” Rivas-Chirino v. Wildlife Conservation Socy., 64 Ad3d 556, 557 (2009).

Plaintiff, who had been hired as a laborer to work on renovating our client’s home, was injured when, after attempting to pull a piece of sheetrock from the bathroom wall, the remaining sheetrock fell onto him, causing him to slip and step into a hole in the bathroom floor.

In a recent decision on our summary judgment motion, the Court determined that the defendant had established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment dismiss the Labor Law § 200 and common law negligence claims against him. The Court found that Plaintiff failed to raise any triable issues refuting Defendant’s argument that the hole was both open and obvious and constituted an ordinary hazard of Plaintiff’s employment. Notably, Plaintiff himself had testified that he was aware of the hole prior to his accident, as his work including the demolition and repairment of the existing floors, toilers, and sinks located within the bathroom.