Brooklyn Boro

Sketches of Court: Owner-developer found in violation of Labor Law after construction site accident

November 22, 2019 By Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Kathy King presides over the construction accident trial Impoco vs. Marjam Supply Company, et al. Plaintiff’s attorney Brian Brown, of the law firm Zaremba Brown, stands before an aerial-view photograph as he makes his opening remarks to the jury. At issue is the determination of liability.

Gaetano Impoco was a union carpenter at the Mall at Bay Plaza construction site in May 2014, involved in executing shell and core work for eventual tenants. Impoco and a Marjam truck and driver were directed to a newly designated delivery area for construction materials, where there was no loading dock. After offloading 1,000 pounds of framing supplies from the truck, Impoco was bracing to help maneuver the load over a 2-inch doorway lip when the departing driver started the truck’s engine. The truck rolled back a few feet and caught Impoco’s extended leg, injuring him seriously.

Brown claimed that defendant Mall 1 Bay Plaza had failed to provide a safe working environment. Brown asserted that personnel were directed to a new, narrow area ill-suited for deliveries, for the sake of expediency, and that an accident was inevitable.

Kathleen Mulholland (at right), of the law offices of Camacho Mauro Mulholland, represented owner-developer Mall 1 Bay Plaza. Mulholland disputed Brown’s allegations impugning the safety of the delivery area, and countered that Impoco was an experienced carpenter who should have known how to place himself out of harm’s way behind the truck tire.

The jury determined that Mall 1 was 75 percent liable for a violation of New York Labor Law Sec. 200, and that co-defendants Marjam and the truck driver were 25 percent responsible for the negligence that contributed to the accident.

Marjam and the truck driver had settled with the plaintiff before the trial began. The damages phase of the trial against Mall 1 is scheduled to proceed in January in Kings County Supreme Court, Civil Term.

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