Labor Law 241(6)

• October 15, 2026 First Department

  Scaffold Fall: Worker Wins on Liability as the Court Rejects a Defense Biomechanical Expert’s Opinion (Latazela v Compass Six Owner LLC, 1st Dept 2026)

  An expert’s opinion that disregards consistent evidence that the injured person fell and was hurt, or does not explain how the expert reached it, may not be enough to require a trial. Here, the First Department affirmed partial summary judgment on liability under Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6) for a worker who fell 11 to 12 feet from a plank on a scaffold that moved, rejecting the defendants’ biomechanical expert’s opinion as speculative.

  Biomechanical EngineersLabor Law 240(1)Labor Law 241(6)Summary Judgment

• October 13, 2026 First Department

  Ladder Struck by Falling Plywood: Worker Wins on Labor Law 240(1), Whether He Fell From the Second Step or the Sixth (De Souza v 4720 Third Ave LLC, 1st Dept 2026)

  A worker who falls from an unsecured ladder that suddenly moves may win on liability under Labor Law 240(1), even if the fall is from only a few feet. Here, the First Department modified the trial court’s order to grant partial summary judgment on liability to a worker whose ladder was struck by a falling piece of plywood he was removing from a ceiling, holding that it did not matter whether he was on the sixth step or the second.

  Labor Law 240(1)Labor Law 241(6)Summary Judgment

• October 7, 2026 Second Department

  Late Motion Could Not Defeat a Worker’s Labor Law 240(1) Claim, but His Late Industrial Code Amendment Failed Too (Cambero-Minaya v 211 Schermerhorn Dev., LLC, 2d Dept 2026)

  After the note of issue is filed, deadlines bind both sides: a late summary judgment motion without good cause must be denied without considering the merits, and a late change to the bill of particulars ordinarily needs special and extraordinary circumstances. Here, the Second Department reinstated a worker’s Labor Law 240(1) and related claims because the owner and general contractor moved too late, but left his Labor Law 241(6) claim dismissed because he sought to add Industrial Code sections about nine months after the note of issue.

  Labor Law 240(1)Labor Law 241(6)Labor Law 200Summary Judgment

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