Is Landlord Responsible for Injuries to Tenant's Employee?

The employee of a tenant-restaurant in landlord's building sued landlord after being injured when he fell through a broken or defective trap door into the building basement. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case, claiming that it didn't own the building identified in the court papers and therefore had no duty to the plaintiff. The court ruled against landlord, and permitted the plaintiff to amend his court complaint to state the correct building address.

Landlord appealed and lost. The plaintiff timely commenced his court complaint and amendment was granted by the lower court. This didn't change the timeliness of the complaint filing. And, generallly, a landlord owes a duty of care to maintain a property in a reasonably safe condition. Whether landlord here retained sufficient control over the premises and had a duty imposed by statute or by contract or a course of conduct involved questions of fact that hadn't been resolved.

Parapi v. 470 W. 23 Assoc., LLC: App. No. 2021-02551, Index No. 522923/19, 2024 NY Slip Op 03056, 228 AD3d 679 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 6/5/24; Connolly, JP, Chambers, Genovesi, Love, JJ)