Court Opinion

ID: 9872263
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-26 20:57:40.275624+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:15:46.634306
License: Public Domain

Sweeny, J.P.,
dissents in a memorandum as follows: I dissent. The motion court correctly decided the motions to dismiss.
Defendants 56 Leonard LLC (56 Leonard) and Lend Lease *516(US) Construction LMB Inc. (Lend Lease), the only defendants that are parties to this appeal, were the property owner and construction manager, respectively, of a construction project located in Manhattan. Lend Lease subcontracted with defendant Collavino Structures, LLC (Collavino) as the superstructure concrete contractor. Collavino in turn subcontracted with plaintiffs employer, nonparty Navillus Tile, Inc. (Navillus), to “receive, bend and install all rebar required for said project.”
Plaintiff alleges that he was injured when he tripped and fell on debris at an assembly yard leased by Collavino in Bronx County. At the time he was injured, plaintiff was performing steel fabrication work — namely, bending and cutting rebar — at the Bronx yard for his employer, Navillus. The rebar work was for the construction of a new building on property owned by 56 Leonard located in Manhattan, eight miles from the yard.
The pertinent provisions of the contract between Collavino and Lend Lease are set forth in the majority’s writing and need not be repeated here. However, it is the majority’s strained interpretation of this contract that brings 56 Leonard and Lend Lease into the ambit of Labor Law § 241 (6). Such an expansion of liability is not justified by the terms of the contract, the statutory scheme of that statute, or the facts of his case.
A fundamental principle of contract interpretation is that “a written agreement that is complete, clear and unambiguous on its face must be enforced according to the plain meaning of its terms” (Greenfield v Philles Records, 98 NY2d 562, 569 [2002]). “Such agreements should be read as a whole to ensure that undue emphasis is not placed upon particular words and phrases” (Bailey v Fish & Neave, 8 NY3d 523, 528 [2007]). Whether an agreement is ambiguous is “a question of law and extrinsic evidence may not be considered unless the document itself is ambiguous” (South Rd. Assoc., LLC v International Bus. Machs. Corp., 4 NY3d 272, 278 [2005]).
The agreement in this case between Lend Lease and Col-lavino does nothing to bring Lend Lease and/or 56 Leonard within the ambit of Labor Law § 241 (6).
To begin with, there is no need for this Court to interpret that contract. A plain reading of the pertinent provision, when read in a commonsense manner, governs only temporary on-site facilities that Collavino might need to perform its work. Both 56 Leonard and Lend Lease certainly would have an interest in designating where such temporary facilities are located on site for safety purposes and to coordinate the work with other trades during construction. Indeed, the list of *517temporary site facilities contained in the contract can only apply to on-site facilities as there is nothing in this record to even suggest that 56 Leonard and Lend Lease had any reason to dictate where Collavino or any of its subcontractors performed any necessary off-site work, or what type of “temporary” facilities Collavino or its subcontractors deemed necessary to erect at such off-site locations. There is certainly no indication or suggestion that 56 Leonard and Lend Lease had supervision or control over any off-site facilities deemed necessary by Col-lavino or its subcontractors. Significantly, only Collavino signed the lease with the yard’s owner and plaintiff does not dispute 56 Lenoard and Lend Lease’s contention that the contract between Lend Lease and Collavino makes no reference to the Bronx yard. Thus, there is no material issue of fact that requires a trial.
Dismissal of the Labor Law § 241 (6) claim as against 56 Leonard and Lend Lease is additionally warranted since plaintiff’s fabrication of steel at the off-site Bronx facility does not constitute construction work at the Manhattan construction site (see Flores v ERC Holding LLC, 87 AD3d 419, 420-421 [1st Dept 2011]).
The majority attempts to distinguish the holding in Flores. In reality, Flores is squarely on point with the instant case. The main construction sites in Flores and here were in Queens and New York Counties, 12 and 8 miles respectively from the Bronx assembly yards where the injuries occurred in each case. In both cases, neither the owners of the buildings under construction owned, leased or directed the subcontractors to use the particular locations where each plaintiff was injured. Although in Flores, the general contractor and subcontractor that employed that plaintiff were related entities, that relationship is absent here. This fact only enhances 56 Leonard’s argument for dismissal, since here there is absolutely no connection between it and plaintiff’s employer Navillus. Indeed, the contract in question was only between Collavino and Navillus. To hold, as the majority does in this case, that a contract between two subcontractors can be used to impute liability under Labor Law § 241 (6) for an injury occurring off-site from the main construction site is an unsupported extension of the protections of that statute.
In addition to Flores, it has repeatedly been held in this and other Judicial Departments that under these circumstances, an injured plaintiff is not engaged in construction work within the meaning of Labor Law § 240 (1) and is not working in a construction area within the meaning of Labor Law § 241 (6). *518To hold otherwise runs afoul of the limitations of the protections afforded under those statutes (see e.g. Jock v Fien, 80 NY2d 965, 968 [1992]; Adams v Pfizer, Inc., 293 AD2d 291, 292 [1st Dept 2002], lv denied 99 NY2d 511 [2003]; Pirog v 5433 Preston Ct., LLC, 78 AD3d 676, 677 [2d Dept 2010]; Davis v Wind-Sun Constr., Inc., 70 AD3d 1383 [4th Dept 2010]; Maragliano v Port Auth. of N.Y. & N.J., 2012 NY Slip Op 30374[U] [Sup Ct, Queens County 2012], affd 119 AD3d 534 [2d Dept 2014]). While these statutes are to be construed in such a way as to accomplish the purposes for which they were enacted, “ ‘the statutory language must not be strained in order to encompass what the Legislature did not intend to include’ ” (Martinez v City of New York, 93 NY2d 322, 326 [1999], quoting 252 AD2d 545, 546 [2d Dept 1998], quoting Karaktin v Gordon Hillside Corp., 143 AD2d 637, 638 [2d Dept 1988]).
While it is true that Martinez only referenced Labor Law § 240 (1), the principle that judicially created inclusions not intended by the legislature in drafting the Labor Law statutes is impermissible still holds true.
The majority here simply disagrees with the reasoning in Flores. It is, however, the law of this Department. The absence of a consistent body of law on a particular issue would lead to conflicting opinions and confusion for the practicing bar and the community that expects consistency from this Court in order that it may guide its actions accordingly. “Continuity and predictability are important values for a [c]ourt. We should adhere to precedent unless it is clear that a prior decision has produced an unjust or unworkable rule” (Eastern Consol. Props. v Adelaide Realty Corp., 95 NY2d 785, 787 [2000]). Indeed, “the doctrine of stare decisis should not be departed from except under compelling circumstances” (Cenven, Inc. v Bethlehem Steel Corp., 41 NY2d 842, 843 [1977] [emphasis omitted]).
Here, there is no reason to depart from the precedent established in Flores, which, in my view, is indistinguishable from this case. Plaintiff has “not demonstrated the existence of compelling circumstances so as to warrant departure from the doctrine of stare decisis” (Yenem Corp. v 281 Broadway Holdings, 76 AD3d 225, 232 [1st Dept 2010], citing Eastern Consol. Props., 95 NY2d 785, revd 18 NY3d 481 [2012]; Cenven, Inc., 41 NY2d at 843).
Nor does it matter in this particular case that this is a CPLR 3211 motion to dismiss as opposed to a CPLR 3212 motion for summary judgment. There is no issue of fact that 56 Leonard and Lend Lease had no interest in, or authority to direct, work or activities at the Bronx location. As a matter of law, a cause of action simply does not exist against them in this case.
*519The majority’s contention regarding the lack of space to build in New York City is a chimerical attempt to circumvent the prohibition against extending liability under Labor Law § 240 (6) as set forth above. While it is true that physical proximity to the main construction site is a factor to be considered in determining liability (see e.g. Shields v General Elec. Co., 3 AD3d 715, 717 [3d Dept 2004] [fabrication building on owner’s property 100 yards from building under construction]; Brogan v International Bus. Machs. Corp., 157 AD2d 76, 79 [3d Dept 1990] [transport from one end of a building to the other]), it is but one of several factors that must be considered in determining whether the Labor Law applies, as noted by the precedents cited above. Indeed, as the majority notes, ownership of the property where the injury occurred is another factor that must be considered. However, to argue in essence that Labor Law § 241 (6) must be applicable to off-site fabrication in New York City because there is inadequate space to do so onsite does not comport with the law as it presently exists.
In short, the majority holding today extends liability beyond that envisioned by the Legislature in enacting Labor Law § 241 (6).