Tenant Fell Through Defective Floorboards

Tenant sued landlord for negligence. She was injured when floorboards broke on the porch of her apartment building. Landlord claimed that he wasn't responsible for tenant's injuries and asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. There were questions of fact as to whether landlord had notice that the floorboards on the apartment porch were unsafe or rotting, and whether broken floorboards were the cause of tenant's injury. The floorboards collapsed when tenant stepped onto the porch, causing her right leg to fall through the resulting hole. This didn't cause the injury. But when tenant pulled her right leg up through the floorboard opening with the use of her left knee and right hand and tried to move forward toward the doorway, the toe of her shoe caught a portion of the broken floorboard that was still attached to the deck, causing her to fall into the front door to the building and injure her shoulder. 

Dillenbeck v. Shovelton: 114 A.D.3d 1125, 2014 NY Slip Op 01370 (App. Div. 3 Dept.; 2/27/14; Peters, PJ)