Elevator Mechanic Wrongful Death in Bronx Building.
New York's Labor Law 240 is a law that places the responsibility to protect certain classes of workers from elevation or gravity related risks. While the law is most commonly applied in the construction accident context, our NYC repairman injury lawyers know that the law explicitly applies to repairman. This means that if you were performing a repair and are exposed to an elevation related risk, including the risk of falling or of an object falling and hitting you, then New York's Labor Law 240 applies to you. If the building owner fails to take proper precautions to protect you from gravity related risks then you can sue the landowner for pain and suffering. These legal obligations include providing adequate ladders and scaffolds to support you while doing your work.
In a recent incident on February 18, 2021, an elevator fell on a recently married mechanic in a Bronx building — killing him. The 25-year-old was working on the lift in an apartment building on East Clarke Place in Mount Eden just after 10 a.m. when it fell and pinned him underneath, according to cops. Emergency responders rush the elevator mechanic to an ambulance. Police and firefighters were able to pull him from the shaft, but the 25-year-old could not be saved. The worker was a Champion Elevator employee, who had recently gotten married, his employer confirmed at the building. New York City’s Emergency Management Department and Department of Buildings were on scene too.
Our New York City personal injury and wrongful death lawyers know that New York's Labor Law 240 applies to people who are performing repairs on a structure. While this law is usually applied in construction accident cases, our lawyers know that it applies equally to repairman injury cases, even if the repair was not part of a construction project. So if you were performing a repair on a structure in New York, including an elevator repair or a roof repair and you were injured, you may be able to sue the building owner for personal injuries. You can recover Workers Compensation benefits and sue the building owner for pain, suffering and full lost wages. For more information call our Manhattan elevator fatality and NYC roofing accident lawyers.
Most people just assume that if you a family member was working and suffer a job related fatality, they are only entitled to workers compensation death benefits. But NYC wrongful death lawyers know that for certain types of accidents, you can sue the landowner if you are injured or if a family member suffers a fatality while performing repairs, including elevator repairs. Most commonly, these types of fatal accidents occur when a worker falls into the elevator shaft, because they were not provided with adequate fall protection. When an elevator mechanic or repairman falls into an elevator shaft, New York's Labor Law 240 allows the worker's family to sue the property owner. This law can also apply for a falling object. Whether an elevator is a falling object, depends on whether the elevator fell because of gravity or lowered because of mechanical means. Labor Law 240 only applies to falling objects, but that does not mean that the family of an elevator mechanic who suffered a work place fatality is out of luck. New York Law also recognizes that property owners can be sued for negligence and if the building owner's negligence contributed to the fatality in any way, they can be sued. This can include failing to depower the elevator and take it out of service while a repair is underway.
