Tenant Injured While Rehanging Closet Door

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after being injured in her apartment. The trial court ruled against tenant without a trial and tenant appealed. The appeals court reopened the case. Tenant had been injured when she and her granddaughter tried to rehang a 50-pound sliding closet door on its track. The door slipped out of their hands and fell on her foot. Tenant claimed the door had been broken for several years and that landlord hadn't repaired it. Landlord claimed that tenant caused her own injury because she dropped the door. The court found that there were factual questions that needed to be resolved with a trial. It was foreseeable that tenant would try to repair the door, which landlord had neglected to fix for a prolonged period. The injury was similar to that which would be expected to result from landlord's not keeping the closet door in good condition

Jackson v. New York City Housing Authority: NYLJ, p. 29, col. 5 (4/14/95) (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Mangano, PJ, Balletta, O'Brien, Hart, JJ)