Tenant Caused His Own Injury on Fire Escape

Tenant sued landlord and its fire escape installer for negligence after he was injured in a fall. Tenant had returned to his apartment at 3 a.m. after an evening of drinking. Tenant realized he had locked himself out and tried to gain access to his fifth-floor apartment by climbing up the fire escape. He made it to the second floor and was then told by two passing police officers to come down. Instead of lowering the ladder to descend, tenant climbed onto the retracted ladder, the ladder slid to the ground with tenant on it, and tenant was injured. Inspection by an engineer hired by the fire escape contractor showed no defect in the ladder mechanism. Landlord and the contractor asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial, claiming that they weren't responsible. The court ruled in their favor. Although it was foreseeable that tenant might climb up a fire escape to get into a locked apartment, it was not foreseeable that he would attempt to go down the ladder while it was in its raised position. Had tenant lowered the ladder and used it in its intended configuration, the accident couldn't have happened. 

Taveras v. Quisqueya II Housing Company, LP: 43 Misc.3d 1222(A), 2014 NY Slip Op 50744(U) (Sup. Ct. Queens; 5/8/14; Livote, J)