Gaudenzio Zucchelli Et Al. v. City Construction Co‪.‬

[4 N.Y.2d 52 Page 55] One of the floors of a building under construction collapsed and injured the 13 plaintiffs who were employees of third-party
defendant R. E. Carrick Company, the cement and concrete work subcontractor on the job. The injured workmen sued 981 Madison
Avenue Corp., owner and general contractor, and City Construction Co., which was the owner's agent engaged not to do any of
the construction work but to supervise the whole enterprise for the owner. Plaintiffs' theory of action against the owner
and agent was that they had violated their statutory duty (Labor Law, 200) to furnish subcontractor Carrick's men with a
safe place to work. The owner and agent then impleaded subcontractor Carrick as third-party defendant, alleging that Carrick
had been the primary wrongdoer.