Out-of-Possession Landlord Not Liable for Injury to Tenant’s Worker

November 25, 2024

What Happened: A piece of lumber debris flew off a table saw and struck a nearby worker who was operating a machine called an edge bander. The victim sued the landlord/owner of the woodworking plant where the incident occurred for negligence and under a state labor law designed to protect workers who are struck by falling objects by requiring owners involved in building construction, excavation, or demolition to furnish or erect safety devices to ensure safe performance of the work. The landlord denied doing anything wrong and moved for dismissal.

What Happened: A piece of lumber debris flew off a table saw and struck a nearby worker who was operating a machine called an edge bander. The victim sued the landlord/owner of the woodworking plant where the incident occurred for negligence and under a state labor law designed to protect workers who are struck by falling objects by requiring owners involved in building construction, excavation, or demolition to furnish or erect safety devices to ensure safe performance of the work. The landlord denied doing anything wrong and moved for dismissal. The court denied the motion.

Ruling: The New York appeals court ruled that the lower court should have granted the motion to dismiss.

Reasoning: The owner didn’t owe the worker a duty of reasonable care under either law, the court reasoned. The negligence claim was DOA because the landlord wasn’t in possession or control of the property and an out-of-possession landlord is liable for injuries that occur on its premises only if it retains such control or otherwise assumes a duty to ensure the premises’ safety via a course of conduct, which didn’t happen in this case. And the labor law didn’t apply because the work the victim was doing didn’t involve “construction, excavation or demolition work” within the meaning of the statute.

  • Miranda v. 1320 Entertainment, Inc., 2024 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4509, 2024 NY Slip Op 04313 

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