“It’s an Alter…or you might call it a [Structure under New York Labor Law §240(1)]”
By: Robert P. Valletti, Esq.
For those who are movie buffs, the title of this article is an altered movie line uttered by superstar actor Owen Wilson from the Blockbuster “Meet the Parents.” Watch the clip here (the line is spoken at 1:18 into the clip). The line is apropos due to a recent decision handed down by the Second Department that a specific “chuppah” (or “chupah”) qualified as a “structure” under New York Labor Law §240(1).
In McCovy v. Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill, Inc., the plaintiff was disassembling a wedding “chupah,” a canopy under which brides and grooms stand during weddings conducted in the Jewish religious tradition. After the wedding, during the disassembly of the chupah (which was owned by Defendant Atlas), the plaintiff was using a six-foot high aluminum ladder supplied by his employer. Notably, two feet of the ladder were missing. While a coworker was holding the ladder in place and the plaintiff was standing on the third rung from the top of the ladder, the ladder slipped and the plaintiff fell to the floor, sustaining injuries. After the completion of discovery, both sides moved for summary judgment.
The main argument for the defendants was that the chupah was not a “structure” within the scope and meaning of the New York Labor Laws. The lower court granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and denied defendants’ motion to dismiss, holding that the chupah is a “structure” under the Labor Law. The Second Department concluded that, given the history of statutory interpretation, the word “structure” includes “any production or piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite matter.” (Citing Caddy v. Interborough R.T. Co., 195 N.Y. 415). Thus, less “substantial” constructs or even “transitory” buildings could qualify as structures under the Labor Law. For example, a utility pole (Lewis-Moors v. Contel of N.Y., 78 N.Y.2d 942), a ticket booth at a convention center (Panico v. Advanstar Communications, Inc., 92 A.D.3d 656) and even a window exhibit at a home improvement show (Sinzieri v. Expositions, Inc., 270 A.D.2d 332) were all considered structures under the Labor Law.
The Second Department gave a non-exclusive list of factors a court may consider when determining whether a given item is a structure, none of which are determinative in and of itself: the size of the item; the purpose, design, composition, and degree of complexity; the ease or difficulty of its assembly and disassembly; the tools required to create it and dismantle it; the manner and degree of its interconnecting parts; and the amount of time the item is to exist. The Second Department upheld the determination that the chupah is a structure because it “consisted of various interconnected pipes…secured to steel metal bases supporting an attached fabric canopy… [and a] ladder plus various hand tools were required to assemble and disassemble the chupah’s constituent parts in a process that would take an experienced worker more than a few minutes to complete.” After this determination, however, the Second Department limited the holding of this opinion to the facts of this case and basically found that this inquiry must be performed on a case by case basis.
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