Ortega-Estrada v. 215-219 West 145th Street LLC

**What Happened** A worker named Ortega-Estrada was injured while using a table saw at a construction site owned by 215-219 West 145th Street LLC. The table saw lacked proper safety guards, which are required by New York workplace safety laws. After the injury, Ortega-Estrada sued the property owner, claiming they failed to provide a safe workplace as required by Labor Law § 241(6). **What the Court Decided** The appellate court unanimously ruled in favor of the injured worker. The court confirmed that the property owner was legally responsible for the workplace injury because they failed to ensure the table saw had proper safety equipment. The employer had tried to argue that the worker's own actions contributed to the accident and questioned whether his account of what happened was believable, but the court rejected these defenses. **What This Means for Workers** This ruling reinforces that property owners and employers must follow specific workplace safety rules, especially regarding dangerous equipment like power tools. Workers have strong legal protections when they're injured due to missing safety equipment that's required by law. Even if an employer tries to blame the worker for the accident, courts will still hold employers responsible when they fail to provide legally required safety measures.