Tenant Injured Exiting Stuck Elevator

December 1, 2003

LVT Number: 16985

Tenant sued landlord for negligence. Tenant and her two children were stuck in a dirty elevator for 40 minutes. Tenant banged and screamed until a passerby heard her and was able to pry open the elevator door. The cab of the elevator was about four feet above the lobby floor. Tenant slipped her two children out to the passerby. When tenant tried to get out herself, she was injured. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed, claiming that tenant caused her own injury by getting out of the elevator the way she did. The appeals court ruled against landlord.

Tenant sued landlord for negligence. Tenant and her two children were stuck in a dirty elevator for 40 minutes. Tenant banged and screamed until a passerby heard her and was able to pry open the elevator door. The cab of the elevator was about four feet above the lobby floor. Tenant slipped her two children out to the passerby. When tenant tried to get out herself, she was injured. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed, claiming that tenant caused her own injury by getting out of the elevator the way she did. The appeals court ruled against landlord. Tenant's response to being left in the elevator for so long without assistance was foreseeable. The hazardous situation had developed because of landlord's negligence.

Wiggins v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 11/10/03, p. 27, col. 1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Buckley, PJ, Tom, Ellerin, Williams, JJ)

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