A Bedford construction company is fighting two lawsuits over the question of who will compensate a worker injured on a job at Mount Kisco Village Hall.
The village sued BJB Construction Corp. on June 23, claiming that the contractor had failed to get liability insurance for the project. Then Travelers Casualty Insurance Co. sued BJB on June 28 alleging that the contractor had falsely obtained insurance coverage.
The conflict concerns a 2020 contract to upgrade a village hall elevator. BJB Construction, also known as Moy Construction and operated by Bernard Begley, won the $1.1 million job.
On June 21, 2021, BJB employee Kivanc Yoruk was injured on the job, and this past February, Yoruk, of Bergen County, New Jersey, sued the village in Westchester Supreme Court.
He is demanding unspecified monetary damages for injuries that he alleges have left him “lame, maimed and disabled.”
He argues that the village knew about dangerous conditions and was negligent by failing to provide a safe work place.
The village broadly denied Yoruk’s claims, arguing, for example, that his conduct contributed to any injuries and that any defective condition was trivial or so obvious that he could have avoided it.
Then the village filed a third party complaint against BJB in Westchester Supreme Court. Their contract, the village pointed out, required BJB to obtain a $1 million general liability insurance policy and $5 million umbrella policy and to hold the village harmless from liabilities arising from the project.
The village is demanding that BJB pay for any damages that Yoruk wins in his lawsuit.
Then Travelers sued BJB and Mount Kisko in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
The Hartford, Connecticut insurer had issued general liability policies to BJB from October 2018 to October 2022. But the policies, according to Travelers, excluded coverage for certain work, such as elevator installations and general contracting.
BJB had applied for insurance as a contractor for driveways, sidewalks or parking areas, Travelers says, and indicated that it was not doing any ineligible activities.
BJB’s insurance broker had acknowledged that he understood a fraud disclosure statement that prohibited filing an application with false or misleading information, the complaint states, and that the broker had reviewed the statement with BJB.
BJB asked Travelers to deem Mount Kisco as an insured party on its policy when an insurance claim was filed alleging that Yoruk was injured because of actions by the village.
Travelers discovered in its investigation that Mount Kisco hired BJB as a general contractor to install a new elevator shaft, and therefore the work was ineligible under the insurance policy.
“If the eligibility questions on the application were answered correctly,” the complaint states, “Travelers would not have issued the policies to BJB.”
Travelers is asking the court to cancel the insurance policies retroactively, declare that it owes no obligation to the village, and declare that BJB or Mount Kisco reimburse it for any expenses in the Yoruk claim.
BJB did not respond to an email asking for its side of the story.
Adam M. Hurwitz represents Yoruk. Kenneth E. Pitcoff represents Mount Kisco. Thomas A. Martin represents Travelers.
