In a decision dated November 21, 2019, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed the decision of the Supreme Court, New York County (Hon. Erika M. Edwards) which granted our client, URS Corporation- New York, summary judgment dismissing all of the plaintiff’s claims as against URS and denying the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on his cause of action pursuant to Labor Law §240(1). The plaintiff, a Local 79 laborer employed by Dragados/Judlau, A Joint Venture was allegedly injured on November 21, 2011, while he was working in Wellway 4 of the Madison Yard on the Manhattan side of the East Side Access Project. At the time of the accident, the shackle on a chipping gun failed allowing the pressurized air hose to break free and strike the plaintiff, allegedly knocking him to the ground and causing him to roll down a 30 degree decline approximately five feet. The First Department held that the record demonstrated “conclusively that the defendant URS Corporation – New York [the only defendant involved in the appeal; the other defendants having been awarded summary judgment dismissing the action as against them], the project manager on the construction site where plaintiff was injured, did not have the authority to supervise and control the injury-producing work and was therefore not a statutory agent of the project owner or general contractor for purposes of the Labor Law (citations omitted).”

Francis Coleman v. URS Corporation, et al., 177 A.D.3d 529, 110 N.Y.S.3d 845 (1st Dep’t 2019)