Falls on a job site
For workers hurt in a fall from a ladder while doing many kinds of work on a building or structure in New York, the Scaffold Law often places responsibility on property owners and general contractors when proper protection against the fall was not provided. That responsibility is stricter than ordinary negligence, and a worker's own carelessness usually does not reduce it the way it would in other cases, though defenses exist and are often contested. Owners of one- and two-family homes who did not direct or control the work generally have an exemption. Workers' compensation usually covers the injury regardless of fault and generally bars a lawsuit against your own employer, but claims against owners and other contractors can proceed alongside it.
Falls away from construction work
Outside the job site, the questions change. A ladder that failed because of a defect in its design or manufacture may support a product liability claim against the maker or seller, which is why the ladder itself is such important evidence. A fall at a store, a rental property, or someone else's home may raise questions about whether the owner supplied an unsafe ladder or directed the task. Ordinary negligence rules usually apply in those settings, and your own conduct can reduce what you recover. Homeowners who fall on their own property usually have fewer options unless a product was at fault.
Evidence that disappears quickly
Ask that the ladder be kept rather than repaired or discarded, and photograph it, including its labels, its feet, and the surface it stood on. Share with your lawyer the names of coworkers or witnesses and who told you to use that ladder. Report the injury to your employer promptly if it happened at work, since workers' compensation has its own notice requirements. Medical records that describe how the fall happened carry weight, so describe the accident accurately to your treating providers. When we first meet, we sort out whether the matter is a workers' compensation claim, a Scaffold Law claim against owners or contractors, a product claim, or some combination.
