Curtis v. 37th Street Associates
| Decision Date | 09 November 1993 |
| Citation | 603 N.Y.S.2d 438,198 A.D.2d 62 |
| Parties | Don CURTIS, et al., Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. 37TH STREET ASSOCIATES, et al., Defendants-Respondents-Appellants, and Ryder Construction, Inc., Defendant-Respondent. RYDER CONSTRUCTION, INC., Third-Party Plaintiff-Respondent, v. BUDGET ALTERATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS, INC., et al., Third-Party Defendants-Appellants-Respondents. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
DeBlasio & Alton, P.C., Alexander J. Wulwick, Appellate Counsel, New York City, for plaintiffs-respondents.
O'Connor, O'Connor, Hintz & Deveney, Garden City, for defendant/third-party plaintiff-respondent; Brian T. Deveney and Robin Mary Heaney, of counsel.
Alio, Caiati & McDonough, for third-party defendants-appellants-respondents; Michael Majewski, Appellate Counsel, Mineola, of counsel.
Before SULLIVAN, J.P., and ASCH, ROSS and NARDELLI, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Martin Stecher, J.), entered July 23, 1992, which, inter alia, awarded plaintiff Don Curtis $500,000 in damages for past and future pain and suffering, and which granted common-law indemnification in favor of third-party plaintiff, Ryder Construction, Inc. ("Ryder") against third-party defendants Budget Alterations and Improvements, Inc. and Precision Interiors ("Budget"), unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Contrary to Budget's contention, Ryder's liability for plaintiff's damages was solely statutory pursuant to Labor Law § 240(1). Indeed, there is no evidence which demonstrates that any of Ryder's employees were responsible for plaintiff's safety, supervision or direction at the work site. Ryder's construction superintendent merely coordinated the subcontractors' activities and periodically checked the work to make sure that it proceeded on schedule pursuant to the contracts and blueprints. However, such activities do not amount to the type of supervision necessary to establish Ryder's common-law liability for the injuries sustained by plaintiff at the worksite (see, Damon v. Starkweather, 185 A.D.2d 633, 585 N.Y.S.2d 906). Therefore, pursuant to principles of common-law indemnification, Budget, the entity responsible for the accident, must indemnify Ryder, the statutorily liable party (Kelly v. Diesel Constr., 35 N.Y.2d 1, 358 N.Y.S.2d 685, 315 N.E.2d 751). Finally, we note in passing that Budget, pursuant to contract, was obligated to comply with the safety obligations of the Labor Law.
We find, as did the...
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