Courts Continue to Apply Labor Law "Cleaning" Factors Test

In Collymore v. 1895 WWA, LLC, the Second Department found that the defendant had failed to establish its prima facie entitlement to summary judgment and dismissal of the plaintiff's Labor Law 240(1) claim. The plaintiff was vacuuming an HVAC duct in his employment with Cunningham Duct Cleaning Company when he fell from a ladder. The defendant argued that the plaintiff was not engaged in "cleaning" within the meaning of the Labor Law. Applying the factors enunciated by the Court of Appeals in Soto v. J. Crew, the Second Department found that the defendant had failed to establish that the task was "routine, in the sense that it [was] the type of job that occurs on a daily, weekly or other relatively-frequent and recurring basis as part of the ordinary maintenance and care of commercial premises."