Landlord Not Liable for Plumber's Renovations

June 30, 1996

LVT Number: 10680

Tenant sued landlord for injuries he suffered when he slipped and fell in his bathroom as a result of minor renovations negligently performed by plumber. The trial court ruled for tenant and awarded him over $1 million. Landlord appealed. The appeals court reversed the trial court's decision. Landlord wasn't liable for tenant's injuries since the plumber was an independent contractor and not under landlord's control. In addition, landlord didn't create the condition at issue and had no actual or constructive notice of the condition.

Tenant sued landlord for injuries he suffered when he slipped and fell in his bathroom as a result of minor renovations negligently performed by plumber. The trial court ruled for tenant and awarded him over $1 million. Landlord appealed. The appeals court reversed the trial court's decision. Landlord wasn't liable for tenant's injuries since the plumber was an independent contractor and not under landlord's control. In addition, landlord didn't create the condition at issue and had no actual or constructive notice of the condition. Landlord had engaged the plumber to fix a leak in tenant's bathroom, but it was unclear who authorized the plumber to do the additional work that led to tenant's injury.

Polipo v. Sanders: 642 NYS2d 302 (1996) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Murphy, PJ, Wallach, Ross, Nardelli, Williams, JJ)

Topics

More like this