Landlord Not Responsible for Trip and Fall

February 1, 2008

LVT Number: #20178

A woman sued landlord for negligence after she tripped and fell over the carpet runner in the building's lobby. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without trial. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and won. In pretrial questioning, the woman never looked at the runner and couldn't say whether it had bunched up or shifted. She knew of no complaints about the runner prior to her accident. The doorman stated that he saw nothing wrong with the runner shortly before the accident, and tenants never made any complaints to the doorman about it.

A woman sued landlord for negligence after she tripped and fell over the carpet runner in the building's lobby. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without trial. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and won. In pretrial questioning, the woman never looked at the runner and couldn't say whether it had bunched up or shifted. She knew of no complaints about the runner prior to her accident. The doorman stated that he saw nothing wrong with the runner shortly before the accident, and tenants never made any complaints to the doorman about it. The woman also couldn't identify what actually caused her to fall. There was no proof that landlord either created or had notice of a condition that made the runner a tripping hazard.

Kwitny v. Westchester Towers Owners Corp.: NYLJ, 1/24/08, p. 35, col. 1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Lippman, PJ, Saxe, Nardelli, Williams, Moskowitz, JJ)

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