Significant Court of Appeals Victory Limits Scope of New York State’s Labor Law § 240(1)

For two years, Hodgson Russ attorneys Ryan K. Cummings and Hugh M. Russ, III pursued an appeal that sought to narrow the application of New York Labor Law § 240(1) across the state. The New York State Court of Appeals issued its decision in Holly v. County of Chautauqua and E.E. Austin & Son, Inc. In its decision, the court returned to the true intent of New York Labor Law § 240(1) and, by doing so, began to limit the statute’s far-ranging impact on owners of construction projects and their contractors throughout New York State.