In a decision dated July 19, 2017, Judge Erika Edwards of New York County Supreme Court, issued a decision dismissing plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety. The plaintiff was a union laborer performing work on the East Side Access project. He was injured on November 11, 2011, when he was allegedly struck by a compressor cable and parts of a chipping gun and slid down a 30-degree incline 10 to 15 feet in an area being built for an escalator. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment on Labor Law §§240(1) and 241(6) against defendants, URS Corporation, URS Corporation-New York, URS Greiner Woodward-Clyde Consultants, URS Group, Inc. and Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation. The plaintiff was employed by a subcontractor of the MTA. The claims against the MTA were previously dismissed based on the plaintiff’s service of a late notice of claim. The remaining defendants were successful in arguing that none of themwere proper Labor Law defendants, particularly that none were agents of the owner, and that none of the defendants supervised or controlled plaintiff’s work in any manner. The court pointed out that the plaintiff himself testified that his work was supervised and controlled by his employer. The court denied plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and granted the motion on behalf of the defendants dismissing all causes of action.

Francis v. URS Corporation et al., Index No. 156959/2013 (N.Y. Co. Sup. Ct., July 19, 2017)