Soto v. J. Crew (2013)

Soto v. J. Crew (2013): In this Labor Law action, we successfully defended the dismissal of claims under Labor Law § 240(1) where the plaintiff fell off a ladder while dusting a six-foot shelf and was injured.  The trial court initially dismissed claims under section 240(1), holding that the statute did not cover the plaintiff’s work as commercial cleaner employed to take routine care of a J. Crew store.  On appeal, we successfully defended the matter before the Appellate Division, First Department, which affirmed but later granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals.  We then successfully defended the dismissal of the Labor Law § 240(1) claims at the Court of Appeals, arguing that the plaintiff was not engaged in “cleaning” within the meaning of the statute.  This is the first Court of Appeals decision setting out a test to determine whether a “cleaning” activity is either merely routine, which is not protected, or a covered activity under Labor Law § 240(1).