No Notice to Landlord About Puddle on Stair

November 1, 2004

LVT Number: 17667

Tenant sued landlord, claiming negligence, after she slipped on the stairs and broke her ankle. There was a puddle of liquid on the third stair. While going up the stairs, tenant tried to step over the puddle by stepping from the second stair to the fourth stair. She said she stayed to the right side of the stairs rather than walk up the left side, where there was no puddle, because there was no handrail on the left side. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and won.

Tenant sued landlord, claiming negligence, after she slipped on the stairs and broke her ankle. There was a puddle of liquid on the third stair. While going up the stairs, tenant tried to step over the puddle by stepping from the second stair to the fourth stair. She said she stayed to the right side of the stairs rather than walk up the left side, where there was no puddle, because there was no handrail on the left side. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and won. There was no proof that landlord knew or should have known about the puddle before tenant's accident.

Jenkins v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 10/25/04, p. 27, col. 5 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Tom, JP, Saxe, Williams, Friedman, Marlow, JJ)

Topics

More like this