Partner Joseph Orlando and associate Joseph Calandriello obtain summary judgment dismissal of a third-party action against the plaintiff’s employer in the case of Darwin Cordova v. Puccio Electric, Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 154834/2022. The plaintiff in Cordova was an electrician employed by our client, Puccio Electric. He was working from a ladder when an unsecured stack of sheetrock leaning up against the wall fell over and knocked him off of the ladder with the stack of sheetrock landing on his leg. The incident resulted in a comminuted, displaced fracture of the right distal tibia. He had extreme swelling which was addressed via an emergent fasciotomy. The plaintiff underwent a total of six surgeries to his right lower leg and was admitted to Stony Brook Hospital for 26 days. The third-party action against Puccio Electric alleged claims sounding in contractual indemnity, breach of contract for failing to procure the required insurance, common law indemnity and contribution. The latter two claims were dismissed based on a concession by counsel for third-party plaintiff that the plaintiff did not suffer a ‘grave injury’ within the meaning of Workers’ Compensation Law Section 11. The contractual claims were also dismissed as the only contract between the third-party plaintiff general contractor and Puccio Electric was for a specified term with a specific End Date that pre-dated the date of the incident. Accordingly, Judge Lori Sattler held that there was no contract in effect on the date of loss obligating Puccio Electric to either indemnify the third-party plaintiff general contractor or procure insurance coverage in their favor.