First Department affirms dismissal of labor law claims by worker who fell from locomotive

In Molloy v LIRR, 2017 WL 1716366 (1st Dept 2017),  a construction worker, who fell from a locomotive, sued our clients under the Labor Law.  The Appellate Division, First department, affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s Section 200 and 240 claims, as well as his Section 241(6) claims arising from two provisions of the Industrial Code.  In so doing, the panel embraced our argument that the special protections of  Labor Law section 240(1), which imposes strict liability, do not apply to a worker who is alighting from his vehicle.  It did not accept plaintiff’s argument that prior precedent relating to workers alighting from a vehicle should not apply when a worker is forced to climb down from the vehicle a distance greater than five feet. The LCBF team was headed by Ron Joseph.