Opinion
May 31, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Niagara County, Rath, Jr., J.
Present — Denman, P.J., Green, Wesley, Balio and Boehm, JJ.
Order insofar as appealed from unanimously reversed on the law without costs, motion granted and complaint against defendant Lockport International Partners dismissed. Memorandum: Supreme Court erred in denying the motion of defendant Lockport International Partners (LIP) for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against it. The proof is sufficient to establish as a matter of law that plaintiff was a special employee of LIP at the time of his accident ( see, Thompson v. Grumman Aerospace Corp., 78 N.Y.2d 553; Schulze v. Associated Univs., 212 A.D.2d 588, 589). It is undisputed that plaintiff was hired by an LIP supervisor, who directed, controlled and assigned all of plaintiff's work. From the inception of his employment until the date of the accident, plaintiff worked exclusively for LIP at LIP's facility. The general employer, Spezio Development Corporation, had no direct control over the labor performed by plaintiff for LIP. The special employment relationship between plaintiff and LIP "is not defeated merely by the fact that the general employer was responsible for paying the employee's wages and maintaining workers' compensation and insurance for the employee" ( Olsen v We'll Manage, 214 A.D.2d 715, 716, lv denied 86 N.Y.2d 706; accord, Thompson v. Grumman Aerospace Corp., supra, at 557; Cameli v. Pace Univ., 131 A.D.2d 419, 420).