n a decision dated April 8, 2011, Justice Charles A. Markey granted second third-party defendant’s motion for summary judgment dismissing all claims and cross-claims against it. The plaintiff was standing on a scaffold dismantling a roll-up garage door. While attempting to remove a fastener for the roll-up mechanism, the mechanism sprung forward, striking the plaintiff in the head. The plaintiff was rendered unconscious and he subsequently fell from the scaffold.
The second third-party defendant was engaged by the City of New York to provide safety auditing services pursuant to a written contract. The indemnification clause in the contract required that the party to be indemnified prove that the second third-party defendant’s negligence caused the plaintiff’s accident. In granting second third-party defendant summary judgment, the Court held that the second third-party defendant was free of any negligence and it did not have actual or constructive notice of any dangerous condition. Therefore, the Court held that no party was entitled to indemnification from the second third-party defendant.

Fernandez v. The City of New York, et al., Index No.: 21228/06 (Queens Co. Sup. Ct., April 8, 2011)