Fraudemic in Construction

This is my second Skylines article on staged accident fraud and the Scaffold Law and how it is hurting New York construction sites. I have been President of Andromeda for nearly two and a half years now, leading the fight against staged accidents on job sites. Before that, I spent over 34 years conducting and directing high scale federal corruption investigations. Being in that world for so long, plus being a certified fraud examiner, has made me a natural skeptic. I need real evidence before I believe something is on the level. I question things closely. I am writing this piece as a continuation of the work we are doing at Andromeda to tackle what we call this fraudemic. Our efforts are already showing real results.

In Manhattan, scaffold riggers show up before sunrise, coffee in hand, to lock down the platforms that hold up the city constantly changing skyline, regardless of hot or cold weather.   For over a hundred years, one law has basically ruled that work, New York Scaffold Law, which dates back to 1885 and is now in Labor Law sections 240 and 241.

This law has turned into a much bigger debate about safety, fairness, and money. 

The law was meant to protect workers from falls and gravity related accidents when they are working high up. But as buildings get taller and construction gets more complicated, this law has turned into a much bigger debate about safety, fairness, and money.

This is why an anonymous source introduced Project240.  The report, released in April 2026, went through nearly 30,000 verified construction accident claims from 2009 to 2024.

You can read the full report here: https://project240.org/

It skips the headlines and dramatic court cases. Instead, it looks at the actual numbers to see what is really happening with elevation related injuries in New York and how Scaffold Law is playing out on real job sites. The findings are pretty eye opening. Elevation related claims have jumped from just a few hundred a year fifteen years ago to several thousand by the early 2020s. That surge has jammed up the courts and completely changed the insurance game. Liability premiums tied to the Scaffold Law now eat up way more of a project budget here than they do for the same work in neighboring states. On top of that, insurance companies have been pulling out of the New York market, leaving contractors with fewer choices and much higher costs.

They also saw that even as construction picked up after the pandemic, Scaffold Law claims kept rising faster in some years. Sometimes they spiked even when other types of injuries were staying flat or dropping. And the bigger cases have turned into multimillion dollar settlements and verdicts, which just keep feeding the cost spiral.

This hits hardest at the street level. New York construction workforce is more diverse than ever, with lots of small family run businesses and a growing number of Latino workers. For these small outfits and minority owned companies, the skyrocketing insurance and legal costs can feel like they are fighting for survival. Project240 pointed out a disturbing side effect, when the system gets too expensive, some employers and workers go off the books with cash jobs and unreported labor. That weakens safety protections, cuts tax revenue, and makes real oversight difficult.

At the center of the whole argument is how the law assigns blame. In most states, they use comparative fault rules, so liability gets split based on how much each party was at fault. But in New York, the Scaffold Law means absolute liability. Property owners and contractors can end up on the hook for the full amount of an elevation related injury, even if the worker’s own actions played a big part in what happened.

Supporters of the law say this strict approach keeps constant pressure on employers to keep job sites safe. Critics say court rulings have stretched the law far beyond its original intent, creating huge financial risks that make it harder to compete and drive-up costs for everyone.

Project240 is not claiming to have the perfect answer. What it does give us is solid data instead of just stories, so policymakers, industry people, and workers can finally have an honest conversation. The options range from keeping the strict liability as is to moving toward a more balanced system like the comparative fault rules used in other states.

The Scaffold Law sits right at the intersection of safety, justice, and economics. Project240 gives us a clearer picture of how those forces are playing out on job sites, in courtrooms, and in the insurance world. If New York wants to protect workers while keeping the construction industry strong, we need this evidence-based discussion right now.

The Skyline literally depends on it.