Opinion ID: 2031992
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Bartoo v Buell

Text: Fifty feet from defendant Robert Buell's residence in Allegany County is a barn in which he stores personal belongings, including a boat and miscellaneous equipment, as well as a neighbor's sailboat and car. In a separate portion of the barn, Buell leases space to nine individuals to store their golf carts for a $25 annual storage fee. When the barn roof developed a leak, Buell contracted with General Roofing & Heating, Inc. to repair and paint the roof. During the course of the repair work, three of General Roofing & Heating's employees, plaintiffs Philip Bartoo, Dennis Pangburn, and Allen Skiver, Jr., were severely injured when a scaffold platform on which they were working collapsed. Bartoo and Pangburn together commenced one action, and Skiver and his wife commenced a separate action, both sets of plaintiffs asserting claims for, among other things, violations of Labor Law § 240 (1) and § 241 (6). After the two actions were consolidated, Supreme Court granted plaintiffs' separate motions for summary judgment and held that the homeowner exemption of Labor Law § 240 (1) and § 241 (6) did not exempt Buell from liability because the barn had been used in part for commercial purposes. In separate orders, the Appellate Division, with two Justices dissenting, reversed and granted summary judgment in Buell's favor dismissing plaintiffs' Labor Law § 240 (1) and § 241 (6) causes of action, holding that the homeowner exemption applied to the facts of this case ( see , Bartoo v Buell , 198 AD2d 819). Subsequently, a judgment of Supreme Court was entered dismissing plaintiffs' remaining causes of action. Plaintiffs filed this appeal as of right pursuant to CPLR 5601 (a) and (d).