Construction Accident Lawyer in Oakland Gardens, NY
Oakland Gardens was built largely in the 1950s: single-family homes, two-family houses and large cooperative garden-apartment complexes. Buildings of that age need constant work — roofs, gutters, brick pointing, windows, boilers — and the people who do it are often hurt on ladders and roof edges. Whether New York's construction laws protect them depends on a distinction that trips up many claims: repair versus routine maintenance.
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Repair Work Is Covered. Routine Maintenance Usually Is Not.
Labor Law §240(1) protects workers engaged in the "erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing" of a building. That list reaches well beyond new construction: repointing a co-op's brick, painting a facade, replacing a section of roof or fixing a broken gutter can all qualify.
What generally does not qualify is routine maintenance — work done to keep something in working order rather than to fix something that broke or to change the building, like replacing a light bulb or changing a filter. Courts look at what the worker was actually doing and why. A fall from a ladder while replacing a cracked downspout may be covered; a fall while doing a routine seasonal check may not. The difference can decide whether the owner is responsible regardless of fault, so the details of the assignment matter from the start.
Co-op Boards and Managing Agents
The garden-apartment complexes in Oakland Gardens are cooperatives, owned by a corporation and run by a board and a managing agent. For Labor Law purposes, the co-op corporation is usually the owner, and it does not get the exemption that owners of one- and two-family homes have. When a co-op hires a contractor to replace roofs or repoint walls and a worker falls, the co-op and the contractor can both be responsible.
Workers employed directly by the co-op — a superintendent or porter — are in a different position. Their injuries are usually covered by the co-op's workers' compensation, and suing their own employer is generally barred. A third party, such as an outside contractor whose work created the hazard, may still be responsible.
The Single-Family Homes
On the single-family streets, including the Tall Oaks homes and the blocks along 73rd Avenue that border Alley Pond Park, the owner of a one- or two-family house who hires a contractor and does not direct the work is generally exempt from the strictest Labor Law claims. The contractor is not. If you were hurt on a house renovation, the contractor who hired or supervised you may be the defendant, along with any other contractor whose work caused the accident.
Specific Safety Violations
Labor Law §241(6) adds another basis for a claim when a worker is hurt because a specific rule in the state Industrial Code was broken — rules on ladder footing, guarding roof openings, protecting against electrical hazards and keeping work areas clear. It applies to construction, demolition and excavation work, so it is most useful on larger renovation jobs.
Workers' Compensation
Whatever happens with a Labor Law claim, your employer's workers' compensation insurance covers medical care and part of your lost wages. Report the injury to your employer in writing within 30 days and file the claim within two years. Our workers' compensation page explains the benefits and how they interact with a lawsuit against someone other than your employer.
After a Fall
Long Island Jewish Medical Center, a short drive east, is a state-designated Level I trauma center. Tell the treating doctor that the injury happened at work and how. Then record the details: the building address, the co-op or owner, the contractor who hired you, what you were fixing, and what equipment you were given. Photograph the ladder or roof area if you can do it safely. The Department of Buildings and, for serious injuries, OSHA may investigate, and those records can matter later.
Deadlines and the Court
A lawsuit under the Labor Law or for negligence generally must be filed within three years under CPLR §214. Cases from Oakland Gardens go to Queens County Supreme Court, Civil Term in Jamaica.
Talk to Us
We are about two miles west on Union Turnpike. A consultation is free, and our fee comes only from what we recover. See our construction and work injury practice and our guide to the Scaffold Law, or meet the team on our team page.
Davidov & Cohen Law, PLLC
185-22 Union Tpke, Suite 203
Fresh Meadows, NY 11366
(718) 328-8001
Nearby: car accidents in Oakland Gardens, car accidents in Bayside and construction accidents in Fresh Meadows.
Common questions
I was cleaning windows on a co-op building and fell. Does the Labor Law cover window cleaning?
It can. "Cleaning" is listed in Labor Law §240(1), and courts have applied it to commercial window cleaning. Whether it covers a particular job depends on the kind of cleaning and how it was done, so the details matter.
I am the building's superintendent and fell from a ladder. Can I sue the co-op?
Usually not, if the co-op is your employer — workers' compensation is generally your remedy against your employer. But if an outside contractor or another company caused or contributed to the accident, a claim against them may be possible.
The contractor who hired me did not have insurance. What happens?
You may still have options, including claims against the owner or the general contractor, and in some situations benefits through the state system. An uninsured employer does not leave an injured worker without recourse, but it does make the investigation more important.
This page is general information about New York law for workers in Oakland Gardens, Queens. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts. Attorney Advertising.
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