Delivery Person Injured by Slipping Carpet on Building Staircase

A worker making a delivery to tenant in landlord's building tripped over mislaid or raised carpet on the building staircase. The worker sued landlord for negligence. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without trial. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. There were issues concerning whether landlord should have known of the defective condition. The worker claimed that he had noticed the condition of the carpet during prior deliveries to the building. Landlord's own expert had stated that the carpet in question would move three-eighths of an inch when 25 pounds of horizontal force was applied. Although landlord claimed that any defect was trivial, whether the carpet movement was a condition that created liability was a question of fact for trial.

Jangana v. Nicole Equities LLC: 2015 NY Slip Op 03043, 2015 WL 1566020 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 4/9/15; Gonzalez, PJ, Mazzarelli, Saxe, Mazanet-Daniels, Clark, JJ)