Hippert v J. Rettenmaier USA LP

Holding The court affirmed the grant of partial summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1), finding that the defendants were owners who violated the statute. The violation was a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries because a steel grate fell from a significant elevation due to the absence of a safety device.

The court’s words

Plaintiffs established, and defendants do not dispute, that defendants were "owners" for the purposes of Labor Law § 240 (1).

2026 NY Slip Op 04657, at the official text

that the object fell because of the absence or inadequacy of a safety device to guard against a risk involving the application of the force of gravity over a physically significant elevation differential

2026 NY Slip Op 04657, at the official text