Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department.
Plaintiff John Ormsbee (plaintiff) was lifting the lid of a gang box at a construction site to retrieve tools and materials when the lid fell suddenly, causing injury to his shoulders, although the lid did not strike any part of his body.
Plaintiff's lifting of the lid of the gang box does not qualify as a covered activity under Labor Law § 240(1). There was no "significant risk inherent in [it] because of the relative elevation at which [it] [had to] be performed...
