New York Court of Appeals, 1976

Iuliani v. Great Neck Sewer District

New York Court of Appeals · Decided February 12, 1976

38 N.Y.2d 885; 346 N.E.2d 547; 382 N.Y.S.2d 746; 1976 N.Y. LEXIS 2330

Cases that cite this one

10 later published cases cite this decision.

Tilkins v. City of Niagara Falls (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1976)
Nagel v. D & R REALTY CORP. (N.Y. 2002)
Smith v. Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1982)
Allen v. Cloutier Construction Corp. (N.Y. 1978)
Haimes v. New York Telephone Co. (N.Y. 1978)
Allen v. Cloutier Construction Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1977)
Haimes v. New York Telephone Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1977)
Washington v. East 87th & 88th Street Contracting Co. (Civil Court of the City of New York 1977)
Dawson v. Diesel Construction Co. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1976)
Molinari v. Conforti & Eisele, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1976)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Memorandum Upon the proof submitted to the trial court the complaint was properly dismissed.

Section 241 of the Labor Law imposes a nondelegable duty on the general contractor or owner to provide a safe place to work. However, he is not responsible for injuries caused by the negligent acts of subcontractors when he—the owner or general contractor—has exercised no control or supervision of the work site. Under those circumstances there is no breach of the duty imposed by section 241 of the Labor Law. (Bidetto v New York City Housing Auth., 25 NY2d 848; Persichilli v Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Auth., 16 NY2d 136, 146; Wright *887v Belt Assoc., 14 NY2d 129, 134; Hess v Bernheimer & Schwartz Brewing Co., 219 NY 415, 418-419.)

To hold otherwise would result in the owner or general contractor being made a guarantor of the safety of all workmen at the site despite the negligence of any subcontractor and even in the absence of control or supervision by the owner or general contractor.

Nor should our decision in Kelly v Diesel Constr. Div. of Carl A. Morse, Inc. (35 NY2d 1) be construed to require a contrary result. In Kelly the general contractor exercised general supervision and control of the work site and furnished, maintained and operated a personnel hoist which was the sole means of reaching various work areas.

In the instant case neither the owner nor the general contractor participated or in any way controlled the activity causing the injury.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

Chief Judge Breitel and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Cooke concur.

Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.

Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.