Most construction workers hurt on a job site assume workers’ compensation is their only option. It’s understandable. Workers’ comp is the system they know, the one their employer tells them about, and the one that starts paying relatively quickly. But New York has a separate law that does something workers’ comp was never designed to do: it places legal responsibility for gravity-related construction injuries directly on the property owner and general contractor, regardless of how the accident happened or who was at fault.
That law is New York Labor Law Section 240, known as the Scaffold Law. On the books since 1885, it gives injured construction workers the right to sue parties who controlled the site for the full measure of their damages. Pain and suffering, future lost earnings, and permanent disability are not categories workers’ comp touches. At Godosky & Gentile, we’ve built our practice around exactly these high-stakes cases, securing record-breaking verdicts and settlements for workers throughout New York.
What Labor Law 240 Actually Does
NY Lab. Law § 240 imposes absolute liability (sometimes called strict liability) on property owners and general contractors when workers are injured in gravity-related accidents during covered work. Covered activities include the erection, demolition, repair, alteration, painting, cleaning, and pointing of a building or structure. The list is broader than most workers realize.
Absolute liability means that once a worker proves the statute was violated and that violation caused the injury, liability attaches by operation of law. The worker’s own comparative negligence doesn’t reduce recovery. If a scaffold collapses and Section 240 was violated, the property owner and general contractor are 100% responsible, even if the defense argues the worker did something wrong. New York is the only state with a strict liability scaffold law of this scope. Every other state applies comparative negligence to elevation-related construction injuries, meaning a worker’s own conduct reduces what they can recover.
Who Is Protected & What Work Qualifies
Coverage under the statute reaches well beyond ironworkers on scaffolding. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, painters, window washers, cable installers, demolition crews, and elevator mechanics are all protected. Workers employed by subcontractors rather than the owner or general contractor are covered. Undocumented workers are covered. Immigration status and employment structure are irrelevant to rights under the statute.
One question that routinely changes case outcomes is whether the work qualifies as a covered alteration. The New York Court of Appeals addressed this directly in Joblon v. Solow, 91 N.Y.2d 457 (1998), holding that “alteration” means work that makes a significant physical change to the configuration or composition of a building or structure. In that case, a maintenance worker who chiseled through a wall to run electrical wire and fell from a ladder was found to be performing a covered alteration. The line between alteration and routine maintenance determines whether workers who don’t think of themselves as construction workers have rights under this law.
The statute does carve out one important exception: owners of one- and two-family dwellings who contract for work but don’t direct or control it aren’t liable under Section 240. Architects, engineers, and landscape architects who don’t direct or control the work are also excluded. That exception applies to the owner only, and it falls away the moment the owner becomes actively involved in supervising the work.
Absolute Liability: What It Means in Practice
Property owners and general contractors sued under Section 240 can’t escape liability by pointing to a subcontractor they delegated safety responsibilities to, or by arguing they didn’t know about an unsafe condition. The statute removes those defenses. Liability attaches based on the relationship to the site, not on actual knowledge or personal involvement in the safety failure.
The Sole Proximate Cause Defense
Defendants can defeat a Labor Law 240 claim by proving that proper safety equipment was available, that the worker knew how to use it, and that the worker’s own conduct was the sole cause of the accident. The key word is “sole.” If a defective scaffold railing contributed anything to the fall, the defense fails. The burden of proving sole proximate cause rests on the defendant.
The Recalcitrance Defense
Recalcitrance is raised when a worker refused safety equipment or instructions. To establish it, a defendant must prove the worker received a specific, immediate instruction to use particular safety equipment, refused, and that refusal was the sole cause of the injury. Courts apply this defense narrowly. A general instruction to “be careful” or a safety training session from weeks earlier doesn’t meet the standard. Workers who were never offered adequate equipment, or who refused equipment that was itself defective, aren’t recalcitrant under the law.
Scaffolding Requirements Under the Statute
The statute sets concrete standards that matter in litigation. Scaffolding more than 20 feet from the ground must have a safety rail rising at least 34 inches, fastened to prevent swaying, and enclosing the full length and both ends. Scaffolding must also be capable of bearing four times its maximum intended weight. These aren’t OSHA guidelines. They’re statutory requirements that create a private right of action when violated. OSHA creates safety violations enforceable by government agencies. Section 240 gives the injured worker a direct path to court.
Labor Law 240 vs. Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ compensation covers medical treatment and a portion of lost wages, but it caps out well before it reaches the full cost of a serious construction injury. Pain and suffering, future lost earnings beyond the benefit schedule, and permanent disability beyond statutory limits aren’t compensable under workers’ comp. A successful Labor Law 240 claim against the owner and general contractor can recover all of those categories.
A worker can pursue both simultaneously. Workers’ comp benefits paid out are subject to a lien against any third-party recovery, meaning the carrier has a right to reimbursement from any construction accident settlement or verdict. That lien can be negotiated, and handling both claims strategically rather than settling workers’ comp in isolation protects the overall recovery. Employment status can affect workers’ comp eligibility; it has no bearing on rights under Section 240.
Deadlines & Steps That Protect Your Claim
The statute of limitations for a Labor Law 240 personal injury claim is three years from the date of the accident. That window is long enough that workers sometimes underestimate how urgently the early steps matter. Evidence on an active construction site disappears fast: scaffolding gets modified, equipment gets returned to suppliers, and witnesses scatter as jobs end or crews rotate.
If the injury occurred on a publicly owned project or government-funded site, the deadline compresses sharply. Claims against a government entity typically require a Notice of Claim filed within 90 days of the accident. Missing that window can bar the claim entirely, regardless of how strong the liability case is.
Steps that protect the record from the beginning:
- Report the accident to your employer within 30 days, which is required under New York law to preserve workers’ comp eligibility
- Photograph the scene and equipment before anything is moved, modified, or removed
- Preserve the clothing and gear you were wearing at the time of the accident
- Identify witnesses and collect contact information before they leave the site
- Seek immediate medical attention and keep records of every diagnosis and treatment
Related Statutes Worth Knowing
Labor Law 240 covers gravity-related injuries, but two related statutes often apply alongside it. Labor Law 241(6) imposes liability on owners and general contractors for violations of specific provisions of the New York Industrial Code, covering a broader set of construction site conditions beyond elevation hazards. Labor Law 200 codifies the common-law duty to maintain a reasonably safe workplace and applies when the owner or contractor had supervisory control over the work that caused the injury. In many construction accident cases, all three statutes apply to the same facts but carry different burdens and reach different defendants.
Labor Law 240 is one of the most powerful tools in New York construction injury law. Its power in any specific case depends on how the facts are developed, how the liability theory is framed, and whether the attorneys litigating it have the courtroom presence to take a case through trial when the defense won’t offer a fair settlement. If you were injured on a construction site in New York and want to understand whether this law applies to your situation, reach out to Godosky & Gentile at (212) 742-9706.