MSU Not Responsible For Worker's Wintertime Fall Off Roof, Appellate Court Rules

A New Jersey Appellate Court sided with Montclair State University in a workplace injury lawsuit on Wednesday, ruling that the university is not responsible for an independent contractor’s wintertime fall off a rooftop.

Italo Gomez had previously asserted that while employed with Cumberland USA – an independent contractor hired by MSU in 2010 – he fell off a roof while installing snow guards on the College Hall Building, fracturing his pelvis.

According to court documents, Montclair had received 15.5 inches of snow the night before Gomez suffered his injury, coating the work area with a layer of snow that eventually caused an “avalanche” and swept Gomez off the roof.

The trial court sided with Gomez’s argument that the roof was in a “dangerous condition” at the time of his injury due to accumulated snow, and that MSU had a legal duty to provide job protection.

The Appellate Court disagreed, remanding the case for summary judgement in favor of MSU and dismissing the charges with prejudice.

“The accumulation of snow on the building’s roof - even fifteen-and-a-half inches - contained no ‘dangerous condition’ as statutorily defined,” the appellate court judges wrote in their decision.

“Furthermore, MSU did not affirmatively create the situation which led to plaintiff’s injury. For example, it did not negligently clear the snow from the roof or improperly affix safety equipment. Nor was the presence of snow on the roof for such a period of time and of such an obvious nature that MSU was on constructive notice of any risk. No work was performed on the day of the storm and, the day of plaintiff’s injury, work began at approximately 10 a.m., which was insufficient time to suggest MSU was on constructive notice of the conditions that day.”

See the full court decision online here.

File photo via Flickr

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