Did Lack of Staircase Handrail Cause Tenant's Injuries?

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she fell down an exterior staircase of her apartment building. Tenant claimed that she fell because the staircase was dark, there was no handrail, and there was garbage on the steps. The trial court jury ruled for tenant and awarded her $350,000 in damages. Landlord asked the court to declare a mistrial based on testimony by tenant's medical expert regarding her range of motion that was contrary to court instructions on what the expert could cover.

The court ruled against landlord, finding that this nonspecific testimony caused insufficient hardship to require a mistrial. The trial court also denied landlord's request for a directed verdict dismissing tenant's claims because, while tenant couldn't identify the exact cause of her fall, she and her boyfriend who worked as the building's porter testified about several potentially dangerous conditions that could reasonably have caused the fall.

Landlord appealed, and the case was reopened. The appeals court agreed with the trial court that some points didn't warrant a mistrial. However, the trial court should not have instructed the jury to consider the lack of a handrail because tenant didn't argue that the steps were defective and didn't prove that a statute required the staircase to have a handrail. And it was impossible to determine what part this factor played in the jury's decision. So a new trial was needed.

Thompson v. Rodney: Index No. 307475/11, App. No. 14991, Case No. 2019-04600, 2022 NY Slip Op 00068, NYLJ 1/10/22, p19, col6 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 1/6/22; Kern, JP, Mazzarelli, Gesmer, Gonzalez, Higgitt, JJ)