Tenant Fell from Fire Escape

April 1, 1995

LVT Number: 9577

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she fell from the fire escape outside her apartment window and became paralyzed. Tenant was cleaning the windows and was standing on a 12-inch wide section of the fire escape. She stepped backward, falling into the hatchway. There were no safety guards around it. Landlord asked the court to rule in its favor without a trial. The court refused and landlord appealed. The appeals court again refused to rule without a trial and sent the case back.

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she fell from the fire escape outside her apartment window and became paralyzed. Tenant was cleaning the windows and was standing on a 12-inch wide section of the fire escape. She stepped backward, falling into the hatchway. There were no safety guards around it. Landlord asked the court to rule in its favor without a trial. The court refused and landlord appealed. The appeals court again refused to rule without a trial and sent the case back. Even if landlord had complied with all laws and regulations concerning fire escapes, landlord still had a duty to take minimal precautions to protect tenants from foreseeable harm. There were factual questions that had to be resolved at trial.

Kellman v. 45 Tiemann Associates: NYLJ, p. 25, col. 1 (3/6/95) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Murphy, PJ, Rosenberger, Wallach, Kupferman, Asch, JJ)

Topics

More like this