First Department Finds that General Contractor May Be Held Liable in Negligence for Coordinating Work that Led to Defective Condition

In Gardner v. Tishman Construction, the plaintiff stepped into a hole that was covered with plastic. Tishman, the General Contractor, was responsible for coordinating the work, including supervising the covering of holes created by subcontractors. The First Department found that Tishman could be held liable in negligence for allowing the hole to be covered in plastic by one subcontractor before it could be safely covered with plywood by another subcontractor.