Falling Worker Grabs Pipe, Suffers Freon Burn to Hands; His Labor Law Case Dismissed

Court: Supreme Court, Bronx County, New York

Case: Yuriy Konderevych v. Compare Foods, Inc. and LDB Properties LP

Case: Aug. 10, 2012

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg

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Facts: On September 3, 2003, plaintiff was working for Empire Refrigeration changing compressors in refrigerators for Compare Foods, Inc. in the basement of a building owned by LDB Properties.

This accident victim stood on a crate to cut overhead wires, suffered an electric shock and after he fell, grabbed onto a pipe. His hands were cold-burned on the pipe, through which ran Freon gas.

Accident victim sued everyone under New York's Labor Law, which protect workers on a ladder or scaffold and also from falling objects.

Held: Defendants granted summary judgment. This wasn't an elevation-related injury. It occurred because the plaintiff held on to a pipe, as per his supervisor's instructions. There was no gravity applied to any person or object.