N.Y. Appellate Court Finds Employer’s Removal of Safety Device Insufficient to Allow Tort Action

NEW YORK — A divided New York appellate court has held that employer SML Veteran Leather’s intentional removal of a safety guard from a stamping machine was insufficient evidence of an intentionally wrongful act to allow for an employee suit under an exception to workers’ compensation law.

A 3-2 panel majority of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, on Aug. 20 reversed a trial court decision denying summary judgment to SML Veteran Leather LLC on claims that its actions fell within the “intentional wrong” exception to the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act at issue in the …