*1 P laintiff, Liman Vrlaku (Vrlaku), commenced this civil action in Supreme Court, Richmond County against the defendant, Plaza Construction Corporation (Plaza), alleging that owing to the defendant’s failure to comply with New York’s Labor Law, plaintiff suffered a serious personal injury. A non-jury trial on the issue of liability only was held on July 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21, 2017. Both sides were represented by counsel. Post-trial briefs were submitted.Background:Plaintiff was an employee of R&J Construction Corporation (R&J), a subcontractor of defendant Plaza. Plaza was hired by the School Construction Authority to serve as the general contractor (GC) for the building of Maspeth High School in Queens, New York. On April 30, 2012, plaintiff was assisting Colin Colbourne (Colbourne), a senior co-worker, installing sheetrock along the ceiling of the gymnasium. Plaintiff and Colbourne were about thirty-feet in the air on a scissor-lift, apparently a JLG model 2630-ES, rented by R&J for use at the site. It is conceded that there were several scissor-lifts and other devices to do work at heights used at the job-site. The exact scissor-lift was never identified nor was there any evidence that the scissor-lift in question was reported to have a mechanical problem either before or after the incident. The particular scissor-lift was neither examined post-incident nor taken out of service for repairs.The incident occurred in the early afternoon, after the workers’ lunch break. Plaintiff and Colbourne, prior to going aloft in the scissor-lift, had cut a four by eight-foot piece of sheet rock into a smaller piece to fit into a spot along the ceiling. Neither worker recalled the exact size of the smaller piece with their estimate being between four by five-feet to four by seven-feet. They placed the sheetrock into the scissor-lift and ascended to the ceiling area. The scissor-lift was operated by Colbourne.It came to a stop and Colbourne, who was a journeymen-carpenter began to install the sheetrock. Plaintiff, an apprentice carpenter, was to the right of Colbourne in the scissor-lift and held the sheetrock in place by putting his right hand underneath the section while his left hand extended to hold the sheetrock at a higher spot. Although not resting his right arm on the railing of the scissor-lift, it was above the railing. Plaintiff stated that the scissor-lift suddenly moved in an upward direction catching his right arm between the sheetrock, which was now against the ceiling and the railing, causing his injuries. Plaintiff
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