Construction falls · Scaffold Law claims · Brooklyn, Queens & the Van Wyck
5 min read · or just read the summary belowThe ladder kicked out. Or the plank gave. Or you stepped back onto plywood that was covering a hole nobody marked. You woke up on the ground with your hip wrong, and by the time the ambulance came, the foreman was already telling anybody who would listen that you should have tied off.
In New York, that sentence may not matter at all. There is a law here that exists in no other state, and it was written for exactly what happened to you.
- Free consultation
- No fee unless we win
- Nou pale Kreyòl ayisyen
- Your papers are not the issue
- Labor Law § 240 puts liability on the owner and general contractor when gravity hurts you — a fall from height, or something falling on you.
- Your own mistake usually does not reduce it. New York is the only state in the country that does not apply comparative negligence to these claims.
- You can have two claims at once. Comp against your employer, a Labor Law case against the owner and GC. Comp pays nothing for pain. The second one does.
- Your papers are not the issue. The statute protects workers regardless of immigration status.
- State job — the Van Wyck, any DOT project? You may have 90 days, not three years. That deadline quietly kills good cases.
- Photograph the ladder today. It will be gone or repaired by Monday.
- First 48 hours
- § 240 explained
- Two claims
- Van Wyck / 90 days
- Deadlines
- Kreyòl
- Their defenses
- Cash pay / no papers
- FAQ
- Talk to me
I am Koenig Pierre, an injury attorney on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. A large part of my practice is men who build this city — on the Van Wyck reconstruction, on gut renovations in Bed-Stuy, on every scaffold along Flatbush Avenue. Almost all of them assume the fall was their fault, because somebody on site told them so within ten minutes of hitting the ground.
New York law does not see it that way. Falls are the leading cause of death in this trade — the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1,032 construction and extraction fatalities in 2024, with falls, slips and trips the leading event — and this state wrote a statute about it in 1885 that still has no equal anywhere in America.
If gravity was not involved — a trip on flat ground, a lifting injury, a machine that caught your hand — different rules apply and you should still call. This page is about falls and falling objects.
Do these things first
What to do in the first 48 hours
Report it in writing today and get a copy. Tell the doctor it happened at work and exactly how you fell. Photograph the ladder, the scaffold, the opening, or the object — before it is repaired or removed. Write down every name on that site. File the C-3 yourself. Say nothing recorded to any insurer.
Photograph the equipment before Monday
First for a reason. The ladder with the missing foot, the unguarded scaffold, the plywood over the hole — all of it gets repaired or thrown in a dumpster within days. Shoot wide enough to show where it sat on the site, close enough to show what was wrong. In a hospital bed? Have someone on your crew do it that same day.
Report it in writing and ask for the incident report
Telling the foreman on the sidewalk is not a report. Text or email it so there is a date, and ask for a copy of the accident report. WCL § 18 gives you 30 days. Screenshot what you send.
Write down the names while you still remember them
The GC's superintendent. The site safety manager. Other trades who saw it. Who owns the building. Which sub you work for and who hired them. These names are the case, because the Labor Law claim runs against the owner and GC — not the man who pays you.
Tell the doctor it was a fall at work
Say the height, what you landed on, what hit first. "Back pain" is a different file from "fall from approximately twelve feet from unsecured extension ladder, landed on left hip on concrete." ERs move fast — make sure the mechanism gets written down.
File the C-3 yourself
Your employer filing something is not you filing a claim. The C-3 form goes straight to the Board, free. Here is the State's step-by-step guide.
Do not give a recorded statement
Somebody pleasant will call within a week. On a Scaffold Law case the questions aim at one thing — getting you to say it was entirely your own doing. Read what a recorded statement really is first.
Find out who owns the job
Private developer? City? NYCHA? State DOT? Port Authority? This one fact can change your deadline from three years to ninety days. Don't know? Fine — it's the first thing I look up. Just don't assume you have years. (Struck by a vehicle in a work zone instead of falling? Different claim — see pedestrian claims.)
Copy this and send it to your employer today
I am reporting a work injury. On [DATE] at approximately [TIME], while working at [JOB SITE ADDRESS], I was injured when [WHAT HAPPENED - e.g., the ladder I was working from shifted and I fell]. My injuries include [BODY PARTS]. I am seeking medical treatment. Please confirm receipt of this notice and provide me with a copy of the accident/incident report. This notice is provided pursuant to Workers' Compensation Law Section 18.
Text or email it so there is a date. Screenshot it. Asking for the report in writing matters — if no report was ever made, that itself becomes evidence.
The most important thing on this page
The law that exists nowhere else in America
New York Labor Law § 240 — the Scaffold Law — requires owners and general contractors to provide proper protection against elevation hazards. When they fail and gravity injures you, liability falls on them, and your own carelessness generally does not reduce what you recover. New York is the only state in the country with this rule.
Everywhere else in America, a jury decides how careless everybody was and cuts your recovery by your share. Third rung instead of a taller ladder? Lose forty percent.
New York does not do that. Labor Law § 240(1) requires that scaffolds, hoists, ladders, slings, braces and ropes be placed and operated so as to give proper protection. Courts read that duty as non-delegable and absolute — the owner cannot push it to the GC, the GC cannot push it to your sub. It sits on them by law, whether or not they were on site that day. And comparative negligence is not a defense to it.
The question is never "did I fall." It is "was I given what the law says I should have been given."
Two honest limits. The accident alone is not the case — you must still show a required device was absent, defective, or inadequate, and that the failure put you on the ground (Blake v. Neighborhood Housing Services). And in 2026 courts have been scrutinizing whether the worker was doing covered work: erection, demolition, repair, alteration, painting, cleaning, or pointing. Routine maintenance can fall outside the statute. Both are real fights, and neither is one you can evaluate from a hospital bed.
The same fall, under two different systems
Two categories, and that is all
What counts as a gravity accident
Two things. You fell from a height, or something fell on you that should have been secured. Both are covered. There is no minimum number of feet, and the object does not have to fall far — what matters is that the elevation created the risk and no adequate safety device was there.
Workers assume "Scaffold Law" means scaffolds. It does not.
| You fell from | What was usually missing |
|---|---|
| Ladder that kicked out or shifted | No one footing it, no tie-off, wrong ladder for the height |
| Scaffold with no guardrail, or planking that gave | Guardrails, toe boards, proper planking, inspection |
| Floor opening or hole under plywood | Secured and marked cover, guardrail, netting, real anchor |
| Roof edge, leading edge, parapet | Perimeter protection, warning line, an anchor that existed |
| Beam, joist, form, truss you were walking | Safety line, net, something to clip to |
| Loading dock, truck bed, low platform | Short falls count. Federal data: only ~1 in 9 fatal falls is from over 30 feet. |
| Hoist, lift, bucket, manlift that dropped | Maintenance, load rating, proper operation |
If you hit your head — even briefly, even without blacking out — read this on brain injury claims. Head injuries get missed because the broken bone is what everyone treats.
The other half of the statute: things that fall on you. A brick off the fifth floor. Rebar out of a sling. A dropped tool. A swinging load. A collapsed form. If it should have been hoisted, braced, or secured and was not, same statute — and it does not have to fall far.
What § 240 does not cover, said plainly
Tripping on debris. Ice in the yard. A saw that bound up. A back from carrying block. Real injuries, often real cases — but under § 241(6) (Industrial Code violations) or § 200 (ordinary negligence). Those can be reduced by your own fault. That is why the § 240 question gets asked first.
Federal standards sit alongside this. OSHA requires fall protection starting at six feet, and it has been OSHA's most-cited standard for years. A CDC bulletin on construction falls found nearly half of all fatal work falls happen in this trade. A citation does not win your case alone, but it is strong proof of what should have been there.
You have two claims, not one
Workers' compensation is your only claim against your employer. The Labor Law claim is against the owner and the general contractor — different parties entirely. Comp pays medical bills and part of your wages. It pays nothing for pain, nothing for what this takes from the rest of your life. Only the second case does that.
This is why men who are "already getting comp" walk away from serious cases.
| Workers' compensation | Labor Law § 240 case | |
|---|---|---|
| Against whom | Your employer's carrier | The property owner and general contractor |
| Fault | Irrelevant | Irrelevant — and yours generally does not reduce it |
| Medical care | Covered | Past and future, valued in full |
| Lost wages | ~2/3, weekly cap | Full past and future, no cap |
| Pain and suffering | Nothing | This is where it comes from |
| Deadline | 30 days notice, 2 yrs to file | Usually 3 yrs — far shorter on public jobs |
One warning. The comp carrier holds a lien on your recovery under WCL § 29, and you generally need its written consent before you settle. Settle without it and you can lose your future benefits entirely. It is the most avoidable disaster in this area of law, and one phone call prevents it.
See also: what you actually keep from a settlement, and the same two-claim structure for home health aides and other workers hurt on someone else's property.
Public jobs are different — read this one first
The Van Wyck, and the 90-day trap
If the owner of your job is a public entity, your deadline is not three years. Against the State of New York — a State DOT highway project like the Van Wyck — a claim generally must be filed and served within 90 days, unless a notice of intention is served in that same window. Against the City or NYCHA, a notice of claim is due in 90 days. Port Authority work at the airports has its own shorter rules.
Half the men who call me about a highway job have no idea who they were working for. They know the sub and the color of the trailer. On public work that is not enough, because the owner sets your deadline. (You can also check whether a company carried comp coverage at all through the Workers' Compensation Board — if yours carried none, the Board runs an uninsured employers fund.)
State projects — the Van Wyck. It is a NYSDOT job, so a claim goes to the Court of Claims, not Supreme Court. Court of Claims Act § 10(3): file and serve within 90 days of the accident, or serve a notice of intention in that same 90 days to buy two years. The Court publishes these deadlines. The service rules are technical and unforgiving — claims get dismissed on them routinely.
City, NYCHA and MTA. 90 days to serve a notice of claim, then a year and 90 days to sue. Detail here: the 90-day notice of claim rule.
Port Authority work. JFK and LaGuardia jobs can involve the Port Authority, with its own notice requirement and a much shorter window to sue. If your badge said JFK, treat the clock as urgent.
Why this is so dangerous. Your claim against a private GC on that same job may still have three years. But the claim against the public owner — often the deepest pocket — can be gone in twelve weeks while you are still in a brace. I have taken calls at month five on Van Wyck jobs.
Hurt on any road, bridge, transit, school, airport, or housing project? Find out who owns the job this week. Do not wait to see how the surgery goes.
What they will argue against you
Because ordinary comparative fault is off the table, the defense has essentially one real argument: that you were the sole proximate cause — that adequate safety equipment was available, you knew to use it, you were told to use it, and you chose not to for no good reason. It is a narrow defense, and it is why what you say in the first weeks matters so much.
| They will say | The answer |
|---|---|
| "There were harnesses in the shanty." | Available is not the test. Was there a working anchor point within reach? A harness in a locked gang box is not protection. |
| "He was told not to use that ladder." | A safety lecture at orientation is not enough. They must show a specific instruction to use a specific available device. |
| "He wasn't doing covered work." | The 2026 argument. Write down tonight, in detail, exactly what task you were performing. |
| "He's a 1099, not an employee." | Usually just a label. The duty runs against the owner and GC regardless. |
| "The injury is degenerative." | Your imaging plus a treating doctor who ties it to the fall. Know what an insurance medical exam really is before you go. |
None of these is a reason not to call. All of them are reasons not to give a recorded statement and not to sign anything.
Cash pay, 1099, and no papers
The Scaffold Law protects workers regardless of immigration status, and New York's highest court held that federal immigration law does not bar an undocumented worker from recovering lost wages. Being paid in cash or labeled an independent contractor does not remove the protections that run against the owner and general contractor.
I get this call more than any other, and usually it is a family member calling for a man who will not call himself.
On immigration. New York's Court of Appeals held in Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC that federal immigration law does not bar an undocumented construction worker from recovering lost wages — the decision is in the New York Official Reports. On the comp side, New York City's guidance says you may be eligible even if you are paid in cash, off the books, or called an independent contractor.
On the 1099 label. Usually just a label. What decides your status is who controlled the work, the schedule, and the pay. And the § 240 claim does not run against the man who mislabeled you anyway — it runs against the owner and GC. New York's Department of Labor pursues construction misclassification directly, and every NYC site of size answers to Buildings safety rules whether or not your sub followed them.
I will not promise you every step is risk-free in every immigration situation — that is its own area of law and it moves. I will tell you honestly how your case looks, keep it confidential, and put you in front of an immigration attorney first if you need one.
The calendar nobody hands you
The clocks already running
- 30 daysWritten notice of injury to your employer. WCL § 18
- 90 daysState projects — claim or notice of intention in the Court of Claims. CTC § 10
- 90 daysCity, NYCHA, MTA — notice of claim. Read this
- 2 yearsTo file your workers' comp claim with the Board. WCL § 28
- 3 yearsTo sue a private owner or general contractor in most cases.
- 2 yearsTo complain if they punished you for filing. WCL § 120
The law already on your side
- LAB § 240The Scaffold Law
Absolute, non-delegable duty on owners and GCs. Read it
- LAB § 241(6)Industrial Code violations
Site hazards outside § 240. Needs a specific code violation. Read it
- LAB § 200General duty to keep the site safe
Ordinary negligence where they controlled the work. Read it
- WCL § 11Why you cannot sue your boss
Comp is the only claim against your employer — why the owner and GC matter. Read it
- WCL § 29The lien and the consent trap
Get written consent before settling or lose future benefits. Read it
- WCL § 120Retaliation is illegal
They cannot fire you or cut hours for filing. Read it
Free State help: WCB Advocate for Injured Workers 800-580-6665 · claims line 877-632-4996 · unsafe sites to OSHA, anonymously.
What I look for first
The three things I check before anything else
Most men call weeks after the fall, usually after somebody on the crew told them they had no case. Here is where I start.
Who owns the job
Before the medical records, before anything. Private developer, City, NYCHA, State DOT, Port Authority. That one answer sets your deadline — three years or ninety days — and tells me whether we file in Supreme Court or the Court of Claims. On a highway or airport job it cannot wait a week.
What safety device was supposed to be there, and where it actually was
Not whether you were careful. Whether the guardrail existed, whether the hole cover was secured, whether there was an anchor within reach, whether the ladder suited the height. Photos, the site safety log, daily reports, the OSHA file. This is the case.
Exactly what task you were performing at the moment you fell
Because the 2026 defense is that you were not doing covered work. Erection, demolition, repair, alteration, painting, cleaning, pointing — the statute's exact words. "Running cable" and "altering the structure" look identical from ten feet away and land very differently in court. I want your words, early, before anyone coaches them.
What I can tell you about your own case is what the record shows and what the law provides. I will not put a number on it in a first phone call, and you should be careful of anyone who does. Every claim turns on its own facts, its own proof, and its own deadlines.
An Kreyòl ayisyen
Ou tonbe sou yon chantye konstriksyon?
Si ou te tonbe soti nan yon echèl, yon echafodaj, yon twou nan planche a, oswa si yon bagay tonbe sou ou nan yon chantye nan New York, men sa ou dwe konnen:
- Gen yon lwa nan New York ki pa egziste nan okenn lòt eta. Li rele Labor Law § 240. Li mete responsablite a sou mèt bilding lan ak kontraktè jeneral la — pa sou patwon ki peye ou a.
- Menm si ou te fè yon erè, sa jeneralman pa diminye sa ou ka resevwa. Epi pran foto echèl la jodi a — lendi li p ap la ankò.
- Ou gen de reklamasyon, pa youn. Asirans travay (workers' comp) kont patwon ou, epi yon dosye Labor Law kont mèt la ak kontraktè a. Asirans travay pa peye anyen pou doulè ou. Dezyèm dosye a se sèl kote lajan sa a soti.
- Si se yon travay leta — tankou Van Wyck la — ou ka gen sèlman 90 jou. Pa tann pou wè kijan operasyon an ap ye. Chèche konnen ki moun ki mèt travay la semèn sa a.
- Papye ou pa yon pwoblèm. Lalwa a pwoteje travayè yo kèlkeswa estati imigrasyon yo. Menm si yo peye ou an lajan kach.
Rele Koenig Pierre: 1-800-946-4616. Konsiltasyon an gratis. Ou pa peye anyen si nou pa genyen. Biwo a nan 2653 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn. Ou ka rele oswa ekri m an Kreyòl.
A summary in Haitian Creole of the rights and deadlines described on this page. Full details are in the English text above.
About the author
I am an injury attorney on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, and my practice is built around the people who do the physical work of this city — men from Haiti, the Caribbean, West Africa and Latin America, working for subcontractors on jobs where nobody ever explained what protections they have. I take these cases on contingency: no retainer, nothing owed if there is no recovery. The consultation is free whether you hire me or not, because on a construction fall the most valuable thing I do is often the five-minute call that tells a man whether his deadline is three years or ninety days.
- Admitted
- New York State
- Law school
- Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
- Focus
- Construction accidents and Labor Law § 240 claims, falls from height, falling object injuries, premises liability, third-party claims against owners and general contractors
- Languages
- English · Kreyòl ayisyen · Français · Español
- Office
- 2653 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11223 · 1-800-946-4616 · koenig@koenigpierre.com
- Serving
- Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and Nassau County
- Reviewed
- — reviewed when New York deadlines or Labor Law decisions change
Check the record
Questions people ask me
What men ask me after a fall
The foreman says the fall was my fault. Does that end my case?
Usually not. Under § 240 the liability sits on the owner and GC, and New York does not apply comparative negligence to gravity claims — your carelessness generally does not reduce what you recover. The narrow exception is where your conduct was the sole proximate cause. That is a high bar, and it is the defense's burden.
I am already collecting workers' compensation. Can I still sue?
Yes, and most injured workers should be doing both. Comp is your only claim against your employer. The Labor Law claim is against the owner and GC — different parties, different insurance, different money. They run at the same time. The comp carrier will lien your recovery, which is manageable if handled right from the start.
I only fell about eight feet. Is that enough?
Very likely. There is no minimum height in the statute — what matters is whether the work exposed you to an elevation risk and whether an adequate device was provided. Low platforms, loading docks, and a few rungs up a ladder have all supported claims. Don't let the number talk you out of calling.
I was paid in cash and they call me a 1099 contractor. Am I covered?
Usually yes. Courts look at who controlled the schedule, the methods, and the pay — not the label. And the § 240 claim does not run against the person who mislabeled you. It runs against the owner and GC, who owe the duty regardless of how your sub classified you.
I was working on the Van Wyck. Is that different?
Significantly. A State DOT project means a claim against the State in the Court of Claims — 90 days to file or serve a notice of intention, not three years. City, NYCHA and MTA jobs carry their own 90-day notice. Airport work may involve the Port Authority and shorter rules still. If the job was public, call this week.
What does it cost to hire you?
Nothing up front. Contingency — my fee comes out of what I recover, and if there is no recovery there is no fee. Comp fees are set separately and approved by the Board. The first call is free either way.
One call · No cost · No pressure
You built it. Don't let them tell you it was your fault for falling off it.
Tell me what happened and I will tell you straight where you stand: who owns the job, what your real deadline is, whether the Scaffold Law covers what you were doing, and whether there is a case against the owner and GC on top of the comp claim you already have.
You need nothing from the company. Just what you remember and any photos you took. I read these myself and answer within 24 hours. Ou ka rele oswa ekri m an Kreyòl.
Confidential · No fee unless we win · 2653 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11223 · koenig@koenigpierre.com