The First Department recently issued a decision worth noting for practitioners handling New York Labor Law litigation. In Lacruise v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (2026 NY Slip Op 00424), the Court addressed the scope of Industrial Code § 23-1.7(e)(1), the regulation governing "passageways" under Labor Law § 241(6).

Background

The plaintiff was injured after stepping into an uncovered drainage hole located on an outdoor roof setback. The lower court had allowed the § 241(6) claim to proceed under the "passageway" provision.

Appellate Division Ruling
The Appellate Division reversed that portion of the ruling. Relying on its prior decision in Quigley v. Port Authority of N.Y. & N.J. (168 AD3d 65 [1st Dept 2018]), the Court reaffirmed that a "passageway" under § 23-1.7(e)(1) refers to an interior corridor or internal way of passage inside a building. Because the accident occurred outdoors, the regulation did not apply.

Takeaway
Plaintiffs frequently plead § 23-1.7(e)(1) in trip-and-fall cases occurring on roofs, setbacks, yards, or exterior construction areas. The First Department has now again made clear that the regulation is not a catch-all for any walking surface on a job site. It remains limited to interior passageways.