The allegations of a plaintiff’s complaint do not control when evaluating removal under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), and instead the court must credit the defendant’s theory of the case when...more
3/28/2025
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For participants in New York’s construction industry, the distinction between possession of supervisory authority, on the one hand, and the exercise of that authority, on the other, may have significant implications for their...more
12/20/2024
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Breach of Duty ,
Construction Industry ,
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Contract Terms ,
General Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
New York ,
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State Labor Laws
Labor Law § 241(6) imposes a non-delegable duty on property owners and general contractors to provide construction, excavation or demolition workers with proper safety precautions set forth in Part 23 of Title 12 of the New...more
New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department faced a novel question regarding interpreter bias at depositions. Zhiwen Yang v Harmon, (2023 NY Slip Op 00893 [2d Dept 2023]) stemmed from a Queens County Supreme Court...more
On October 7, 2022, New York’s Appellate Division, Fourth Department issued its critical decision in Antonella Ruth v. Elderwood at Amherst, et al., CA 22-00069 regarding whether the repeal of the Emergency or Disaster...more
In Corby Kuciemba, et al. v. Victory Woodworks, Inc., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the California Supreme Court to evaluate if employers have an enforceable legal duty to non-employees for non-employees’...more
The Second Department of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division issued two decisions in Phelps-Vachier v. Genovese Drug Stores, Inc. and Milazzo v. Best Mkt. on claims of spoliation of evidence.
Both Phelps...more
New York’s Court of Appeals sided with defendants in three recent decisions in cases alleging violations of New York Labor Law Section 240(1). New York’s Labor Law maintains particularly high standards for defendants that are...more
When defending litigation in one state, mass tort defendants must consider other jurisdictions’ rules. For example, while some states generally prohibit a plaintiff from using a defendant’s discovery deposition as part of...more
A California appeals court permitted a Los Angeles County wrongful death lawsuit for COVID-19 “take-home” liability to proceed. The plaintiff claims that plaintiff’s employer’s negligence resulted in plaintiff’s transmitting...more
Last year, Harris Beach wrote about a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation to deny Defendants’ motions for summary judgment in a toxic tort suit arising from occupational exposure to ortho-toluidine...more