What Is It? The Scaffold Law, (Labor Law 240/241) was first enacted in the late 19th century. It holds property owners, employers, and contractors ABSOLUTELY LIABLE for ‘gravity related’ injuries that happen on the job. That means there is virtually no defense from a lawsuit, even if the worker’s gross negligence contributed to the accident. Even parties that had no supervisory control over the work are held liable. New York is the only state that still keeps this law on the books.2
The New York School Boards Association estimates the Scaffold Law costs schools in Upstate New York $200m every year.
In New York City, the School Construction Authority (SCA) paid $240m in insurance costs, nearly triple that of the previous year and despite an excellent safety record.
The SCA’s increased insurance costs are the equivalent of building 8-10 brand new schools over a 3-year period.
The Scaffold Law costs $785m in public dollars every year.
The Hudson Gateway project will incur an estimated $180 to $300 million in additional costs due to the Scaffold Law.
New York has the highest per capita lawsuit costs in the nation, and in a given year more than half of the highest lawsuit payouts were do to the Scaffold Law.
The Scaffold Law is estimated to have added $200 - $400 million in costs to the Tappan Zee (now Mario Cuomo) bridge reconstruction.
Fed up with state government, county governments across the state passed resolutions calling on Albany to fix the Scaffold Law.
To date, over half of New York counties have passed such a resolution. Fixing the Scaffold Law is also supported by the Conference of Mayors, Association of Towns, and New York State Association of Counties.
The Scaffold Law is associated with an estimated 670 additional construction injuries each year.
Fixing the Scaffold Law would create over 27,000 new jobs
Illinois repealed their Scaffold Law in 1995 and construction-related fatalities decreased by 28% over the next six years.
Liability costs on the New York side of NY-NJ bridge projects are double that than on the New Jersey side.
The number of Scaffold Law cases has increase 500% since 1990, even though the rate of injury has decreased.
New York’s general liability insurance costs for construction are the highest in the nation.
Editorial Boards From Across New York
“Dismantle this law: New York’s Scaffold Law diminishes affordable housing supply by driving up the cost of construction”
— New York Daily News, May 2021
“The law is unnecessary, a drag on the economy and needs to be scrapped or revised”
— Schenectady Daily Gazette, “Time to Dismantle Scaffold Law”
“New York claims to be open for business. But until the Scaffold Law is scrapped, the welcome mat won’t be out”
— Utica Oberver-Dispatch, “State’s Outdated ‘Scaffold Law’ Needs to be Scrapped”
“…It’s long past time for New York to do what 49 other states did and scrap the Scaffold Law altogether”
— New York Post, “Scaffold Law $queeze”
“This is about a fundamental flaw in our justice system. [Reform is] both an economic necessity and a moral one.”
— Crain’s New York, “New York’s Stupidest Law”
“It’s a shocking and intolerable deviation from any recognizable concept of justice.”
— Buffalo News, “Out of Date Legislation is Expensive Without Making Workers Any Safer”
“imposes liability even on contractors and owners who had nothing to do with the plaintiff’s accident”
— Court of Appeals Judge Robert Smith
