Tenant Slipped and Fell on Newspapers Left in Stairwell

Condominium tenant (Tenant A) slipped and fell on newspapers that were left in a stairwell several hours earlier by another tenant (Tenant B). Tenant A sued Tenant B for negligence. The court ruled against Tenant A after a trial. The jury found that having the papers on the stairs was an unsafe condition, but that Tenant B was not negligent. Tenant A asked the judge to set aside the jury verdict. The court refused. Tenant A appealed and lost. Tenant A claimed that because an unsafe condition had been found, there had to be a finding of negligence. The appeals court stated that Tenant A's attorney had approved the jury instructions given by the trial court. And Tenant A's claim that the jury verdict was inconsistent with its finding that the stairs were unsafe was not raised until after any steps could have been taken by the trial court to fix any inconsistency.

Lande v. Aronheim: NYLJ, 1/2/07, p. 37, col. 2 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Santucci, JP, Goldstein, Skelos, Lifson, JJ)