In Morales v. Spring Scaffolding Inc., the Appellate Division, First Department recently held that a worker who fell from a sidewalk bridge during his lunch time break could still state a viable claim under Labor Law sec. 240(1).  The Court recognized that there is a split in the Appellate Division Departments concerning the issue and was a case of first impression for the Court.  The plaintiff’s employer had subcontracted with Spring Scaffolding Inc. to erect a sidewalk bridge over the sidewalk where the facade repair would take place and, upon completion of the project, to dismantle it.

Plaintiff stated that he fell eight feet off the sidewalk bridge during a lunch break when a parapet wall on the bridge gave way while he was leaning on it to see about a package regarding his employer.  The Court hedged by limiting its holding to these facts, stating:

In the factual context of this case, we conclude that Labor Law § 240(1) applies to the lunch break accident. As the record shows, the sidewalk bridge, where the lunch break was taking place, was used by the facade repair workers as a staging area, for storing equipment and mixing cement and as an entryway onto the scaffolding. Whether plaintiff was still on his lunch break or had finished lunch, eventually he would return to the scaffold, which was stored on the bridge during the lunch break, to do more pointing work. Labor Law § 240(1) requires that sidewalk bridges be built "so as to provide workers with proper protection"