Juan Moran v. BK Elwood LLC et al v. HPHM, Inc.

CFO Legal > Juan Moran v. BK Elwood LLC et al v. HPHM, Inc.

Brief Description of Case:

Plaintiff allegedly sustained injuries when, while assisting his supervisor and other employees in unloading trees from a flatbed truck through the use of an excavator, he was struck by the bucket of the excavator being operated by his employer, third-party defendant, HPHM. Plaintiff alleged that our client violated Labor Law §§ 200, 240(1), and 241(6). We moved for summary dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint, and for summary judgment against plaintiff’s employer, HPHM, upon our contractual indemnification third party claim.

Court or Jury’s Decision and Reasoning:

As concerns plaintiff’s complaint, we successfully argued: (1) that Labor Law § 200 did not apply because our client did not exercise supervisory control over the means and methods employed by plaintiff in the performance of his work; (2) that Labor Law § 240(1) did not apply because: (a) plaintiff was not engaged in a statutorily protected activity at the time of his injury; and, even if he was, (b) plaintiff’s accident resulted from the lateral movement of the excavator’s bucket and was thus not ‘gravity related;’ and (3) that Labor Law § 241(6) did not apply because the plaintiff was engaged in landscaping work at the time of the accident, not construction or any other statutorily protected activity.

With regard to our contractual indemnification third-party claim, we successfully argued that plaintiff’s accident – and our client’s putative liability – arose out of HPHM’s work, and that our client was not negligent, thus triggering HPHM’s indemnification obligation.

The Best Possible Defense

Attorneys:

Summary Judgment Motion was Drafted by Michael Reagan

Party We Represent:

BK Elwood LLC et al

Venue:

Supreme Court, Nassau County

Date:

January 2025