Farruggia v. Town of Penfield

• Decision Date: 03 July 2014
• Citation: 989 N.Y.S.2d 715,119 A.D.3d 1320,2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 05057
• Parties: Gaetano FARRUGGIA and Gabriella Farruggia, Plaintiffs–Respondents–Appellants, v. TOWN OF PENFIELD, Defendant–Appellant–Respondent, Kenneth Hershey and Suzanne Hershey, Defendants–Respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

119 A.D.3d 1320

989 N.Y.S.2d 715

2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 05057

Gaetano FARRUGGIA and Gabriella Farruggia, Plaintiffs–Respondents–Appellants,

v.TOWN OF PENFIELD, Defendant–Appellant–Respondent,Kenneth Hershey and Suzanne Hershey, Defendants–Respondents.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York.

July 3, 2014.

Sugarman Law Firm, LLP, Syracuse (Jenna W. Klucsik of Counsel), for Defendant–Appellant–Respondent.

Dolce & Panepinto, P.C., Buffalo (Stephen C. Halpern of Counsel), for Plaintiffs–Respondents–Appellants.

Chamberlain D'Amanda Oppenheimer & Greenfield LLP, Rochester (Henry R. Ippolito of Counsel), for Defendants–Respondents.

PRESENT: SCUDDER, P.J., CENTRA, PERADOTTO, LINDLEY, and WHALEN, JJ.

MEMORANDUM:

Plaintiffs commenced this Labor Law and common-law negligence action seeking damages for injuries sustained by Gaetano Farruggia (plaintiff) when the backhoe that he was operating fell into a ravine. Defendant Town of Penfield (Town) hired plaintiff's employer to perform sidewalk and paving work on property owned by defendants Kenneth Hershey and Suzanne Hershey (Hershey defendants). Specifically, the Town hired plaintiff's employer to replace the sidewalk abutting the Hershey defendants' main driveway, which was located on the northern end of their property, and to perform some paving work on that driveway (hereafter, sidewalk project). The sidewalk project was located within the Town's right-of-way, which was 60 feet in width. There was also a second driveway on the southern portion of the Hershey property (hereafter, south driveway), which was located 700 to 800 feet from the main driveway. Plaintiff's accident occurred in what the parties refer to as a “landing area” adjacent to the south driveway. Plaintiff was parking the backhoe in the landing area at the end of his work day when it rolled or tipped into a ravine. The Hershey defendants and the Town moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and cross claims against them. Plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1) and for leave to amend their bill of particulars to assert a violation of 12 NYCRR 23–9.4(c) as a basis for their Labor Law § 241(6) cause of action against the Town. The Town appeals and plaintiffs cross-appeal from an order denying the Town's motion for summary judgment, granting the Hershey defendants' motion for summary judgment, denying that part of plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment, and granting that part of plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend their bill of particulars.

Addressing first the appeal, we agree with the Town that the court erred in denying the Town's motion for summary judgment dismissing the Labor Law §§ 240(1) and 241(6) causes of action against it, inasmuch as the Town is not an “owner” for purposes of those statutes ( see Sanzone v. City of Rome, 292 A.D.2d 777, 778, 739 N.Y.S.2d 794). It is well settled that “the term ‘owner’ is not limited to the titleholder of the property where the accident occurred and encompasses a person ‘who has an interest in the property and who fulfilled the role of owner by contracting to have work performed for his [or her] benefit’ ” ( Scaparo v. Village of Ilion, 13 N.Y.3d 864, 866, 893 N.Y.S.2d 823, 921 N.E.2d 590, quoting Copertino v. Ward, 100 A.D.2d 565, 566, 473 N.Y.S.2d 494). Here, the accident occurred well outside of the Town's right-of-way, and the Town had no other interest in or legal authority over the landing area, which was located entirely on the Hersheys' private property ( see id. at 866–867, 893 N.Y.S.2d 823, 921 N.E.2d 590). The Town established that it was Kenneth Hershey, not the Town, who gave plaintiff permission to park in the landing area; that the Town had no authority to grant such permission to plaintiff; and that Kenneth Hershey directed plaintiff where to park. Further, the Town established that the landing area was not part of the construction site ( see Flores v. ERC Holding LLC, 87 A.D.3d 419, 421, 928 N.Y.S.2d 7;Sprague v. Louis Picciano, Inc., 100 A.D.2d 247, 249–250, 474 N.Y.S.2d 591,lv. denied62 N.Y.2d 605, 479 N.Y.S.2d 1026, 467 N.E.2d 895). No work was being performed in the landing area, and the landing area was not contiguous or in proximity to the construction site ( see Sprague, 100 A.D.2d at 250, 474 N.Y.S.2d 591). Moreover, the Town established that it was not necessary for plaintiff to park the backhoe in the landing area. The Town provided plaintiff with parking in a municipal garage, which was located a few miles from the work site. Plaintiff, however, testified at his deposition that he chose to use the landing area because it was closer to the work site and more “convenient” to do so ( cf. Kane v. Coundorous, 293 A.D.2d 309, 311–312, 739 N.Y.S.2d 711;Zito v. Occidental Chem. Corp., 259 A.D.2d 1015, 1015–1016, 688 N.Y.S.2d 307,lv. dismissed93 N.Y.2d 999, 695 N.Y.S.2d 744, 717 N.E.2d 1081).

We further agree with the Town that plaintiff's accident did not involve “an elevation-related risk of the kind that the safety devices listed in [Labor Law § ] 240(1) protect against” ( Broggy v. Rockefeller Group, Inc., 8 N.Y.3d 675, 681, 839 N.Y.S.2d 714, 870 N.E.2d 1144;see Primavera v. Benderson Family 1968 Trust, 294 A.D.2d 923, 924, 741 N.Y.S.2d 816;Mazzu v. Benderson Dev. Co., 224 A.D.2d 1009, 1010–1011, 637 N.Y.S.2d 540). We thus conclude that plaintiff's accident was “not within the class of hazards against which Labor Law § 240(1) was intended to guard” ( Ferreira v. Village of Kings Point, 68 A.D.3d 1048, 1050, 891 N.Y.S.2d 475;see Wynne v. B. Anthony Constr. Corp., 53 A.D.3d 654, 655, 862 N.Y.S.2d 379).

With respect to the Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence causes of action against the Town, it is well settled that “ ‘[l]iability for a dangerous condition on property is predicated upon occupancy, ownership, control or a special use of [the] premises' ” ( Clifford v. Woodlawn Volunteer Fire Co., Inc., 31 A.D.3d 1102, 1103, 818 N.Y.S.2d 715). “ ‘The existence of one or more of these elements is sufficient to give rise to a duty of care[, but w]here none is present, a party cannot be held liable for injury caused by the defective or dangerous condition of the property’ ” ( id.). Here, the Town met its initial burden on the motion “by establishing that [it] did not occupy, own, or control the [landing area] and did not employ it for a special use, and thus did not owe plaintiff a duty of care” ( Knight v. Realty USA.COM, Inc., 96 A.D.3d 1443, 1444, 947 N.Y.S.2d 693), and plaintiffs failed to raise a triable issue of fact in opposition ( see generally Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557, 562, 427 N.Y.S.2d 595, 404 N.E.2d 718). We therefore modify the order by granting the Town's motion for summary judgment and dismissing the complaint and cross claim against it. In view of that determination, we further modify the order by denying plaintiffs' motion in its entirety, inasmuch as there is no longer a basis for plaintiffs to seek leave to amend their bill of particulars in connection with a cause of action against the Town.

With respect to the cross appeal, we agree with plaintiffs that the court erred in dismissing the Labor Law § 200 and common-law negligence causes of action against the Hershey defendants. It is undisputed that the Hershey defendants owned and controlled the property where the accident occurred, and we conclude that they failed to establish as a matter of law that they lacked actual or constructive notice of the allegedly dangerous condition on their property ( see Mendez v. Jackson Dev. Group, Ltd., 99 A.D.3d 677, 679–680, 951 N.Y.S.2d 736;Ozimek v. Holiday Val., Inc., 83 A.D.3d...