GRESO v. NICHTER CONSTRUCTION CO., INC

Memorandum:

Plaintiffs commenced this action to recover damages for injuries sustained by Paul T. Greso (plaintiff) when he fell down a permanent stairway. At the time of his fall, plaintiff was carrying a bolt of wall-covering up the stairway. Supreme Court erred in denying that part of the motion of Ciminelli-Cowper Co., Inc. (defendant) seeking summary judgment dismissing the Labor Law § 240 Lab.(1) claim. "Labor Law § 240 Lab. (1) does not apply where plaintiff falls on a permanently installed stairway" ( Monroe v. New York State Elec. Gas Corp., 186 A.D.2d 1019). Speculation that plaintiff could have safely performed his work with the aid of a material hoist does not defeat defendant's entitlement to summary judgment dismissing the Labor Law § 240 Lab.(1) claim ( see, Zuckerman v. City of New York, 49 N.Y.2d 557, 562). The fact remains that the stairway where plaintiff fell "was undisputedly a permanent passageway between two parts of the building, and was not a tool or device employed solely to provide access to an elevated worksite" ( Sponholz v. Benderson Prop. Dev., 266 A.D.2d 815 [decided Nov. 12, 1999]).

The court also erred in denying that part of defendant's motion seeking summary judgment dismissing the Labor Law § 200 Lab. claim and the common-law negligence cause of action. Defendant established that it exercised no supervisory control over the method of plaintiff's work ( see, Comes v. New York State Elec. Gas Corp., 82 N.Y.2d 876, 877; McCune v. Black Riv. Constructors, 225 A.D.2d 1078, 1079), and plaintiffs failed to submit proof raising a triable issue of fact.