Dive Brief:

• Contractors and builders have long felt put-upon by a New York law that makes them and a building owner 100% liable for any injury to a worker who falls on a job site, no matter what training was done, equipment provided or evidence exists that the worker may have contributed to the accident.
• In the New York Post this weekend, an opinion piece asserted that the law, known by backers and by those who despise it as the "Scaffold Law," makes the Empire State "far and away the most expensive state in which to build a project—from a house, to a school or hospital, to the World Trade Center or a new Tappan Zee Bridge."
• The article asserts that some liability lawyers have given out T-shirts at construction sites with their contact information so it will be handy when someone falls for any reason.

Dive Insight:

The article was written by Jacques Degraff, a black minister, activist and organizer who said the higher costs of construction because of the law could scuttle a minority-and woman-owned business program through which the New York (City) School Construction Authority encourages businesses. He says "thousands" of jobs are at stake because of the mandatory-liability law.