Cline v. Avery Abrasives, Inc.

OPINION OF THE COURT

David O. Boehm, J.

The issue on this motion for summary judgment is apparently one of first impression in New York and raises the question of whether an employee who is injured in the course of his employment may maintain a common-law action for negligence against his employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier for negligent inspection. The answer, of course, depends on whether the insurance carrier is cloaked with the same immunity from suit as the employer under the Workers’ Compensation Law.

The pertinent facts are undisputed. Plaintiff, Robert H. Cline, while…