Neither Landlord Nor Tenant Responsible for Visitor's Death

Visitor's family sued landlord and tenant for wrongful death, after visitor died following a slip and fall on a wet surface in the building vestibule. Landlord and tenant both asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial, claiming that they weren't responsible for the accident. The court ruled in their favor. The visitor's family appealed and lost. Water was being tracked into the building on a snowy January morning when the accident occurred. Landlord wasn't required to constantly remedy the problem during the weather incident nor required to cover all of its floors with mats or to continuously mop up. And tenant had no duty of care with respect to a dangerous condition in the building's common areas. Both landlord and tenant showed that they hadn't created the hazardous condition. And landlord showed that it had neither actual nor constructive notice of water on the vestibule floor.

Paduano v. 686 Forest Avenue LLC: NYLJ, 7/25/14, p. 24, col. 2 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Balkin, JP, Leventhal, Maltese, Lasalle, JJ)