Fermo v. Manufacturers Trust Co.

Plaintiff, an employee of the subcontractor, testified that while installing air-conditioning ducts on the ceiling of defendant’s bank at Havemeyer Street in Brooklyn, on 'Saturday, May 25, 1957, the ladder which he had brought from his employer’s shop became unsteady. He asked the only bank employee present, one Frank Fornino, who was employed by defendant as a “ receptionist-guard ”, if there was a ladder about that he might use. Plaintiff asserted that the guard authorized him to use a ladder, assuring him that it was “ sturdy.” With the guard holding the ladder, plaintiff mounted it when…