Case Name: Walter Radka, Appellant, v. Miller Brewing, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Plaintiff-Respondent, E.J. Button & Sons, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Plaintiff, and Sverdrup & Parcel Consultants, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Defendant-Respondent. Iverson Construction Corporation, Third-Party Defendant-Respondent
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1992-04-24
Citations: 182 A.D.2d 1111
Docket Number: 
Parties: Walter Radka, Appellant, v Miller Brewing, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Plaintiff-Respondent, E.J. Button & Sons, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Plaintiff, and Sverdrup & Parcel Consultants, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Defendant-Respondent. Iverson Construction Corporation, Third-Party Defendant-Respondent.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 182
Pages: 1111–1113

Head Matter:
Walter Radka, Appellant, v Miller Brewing, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Plaintiff-Respondent, E.J. Button & Sons, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Plaintiff, and Sverdrup & Parcel Consultants, Inc., Respondent and Third-Party Defendant-Respondent. Iverson Construction Corporation, Third-Party Defendant-Respondent.

Opinion:
Order affirmed without costs. Memorandum: We affirm for reasons stated at Supreme Court (Falvey, J.). We add only that, as plaintiff testified at his examination before trial, he was walking alongside a trench when its bank gave way and he was precipitated down the steep slope into the excavation. Thus, at the time of the incident, plaintiff was not performing any task at an elevated worksite and was not exposed to the type of hazard that the use or placement of the safety devices enumerated in Labor Law § 240 (1) was designed to protect against (see, Rocovich v Consolidated Edison Co., 78 NY2d 509, 513-514; see also, Staples v Town of Amherst, 146 AD2d 292, 296 [holding that the statute benefits " 'only those persons injured by a fall from an elevated height due to a lack of, or defective, safety devices designed to prevent such a fall' "]).
All concur, except Callahan, J. P., and Davis, J., who dissent in part and vote to modify in the following Memorandum.