Opinion
2014-07-16
Karl HUCKE, et al., appellants, v. SUFFOLK COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY, respondent.
Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, P.C., New York, N.Y. (Stephen C. Glasser and Gabriel A. Arce–Yee of counsel), for appellants. Baxter Smith & Shapiro, P.C., Hicksville, N.Y. (Dennis S. Heffernan of counsel), for respondent.
Sullivan Papain Block McGrath & Cannavo, P.C., New York, N.Y. (Stephen C. Glasser and Gabriel A. Arce–Yee of counsel), for appellants. Baxter Smith & Shapiro, P.C., Hicksville, N.Y. (Dennis S. Heffernan of counsel), for respondent.
In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, etc., the plaintiffs appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Molia, J.), dated October 31, 2012, which denied their motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability on the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240(1).
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, with costs.
The plaintiffs failed to establish their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of liability on the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240(1). Their submissions demonstrated the existence of triable issues of fact, including whether the injured plaintiff's fall was caused by the defendant's failure to provide guardrails on the scaffold he was using or, rather, by the sudden loss of consciousness that he experienced just before he fell ( see Munford v. Pressmad Corp., 277 A.D.2d 135, 135, 716 N.Y.S.2d 303). Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly denied the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability on the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240(1). MASTRO, J.P., CHAMBERS, LOTT and ROMAN, JJ., concur.