Tenant Slips on Banana Peel

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after he slipped on a banana peel on an interior stairwell in his apartment building. Landlord claimed that it wasn't responsible for tenant's injuries and asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed and lost. In pretrial questioning, tenant admitted that he saw no banana peels on the stairs the day before the accident. The building super testified in pretrial questioning that he cleaned the stairs twice a day, once when he arrived between 6:00 a.m. and 6:45 a.m., and once after 4:00 p.m. before he left for the day. He said there was no garbage on the stairs when he left the day before the accident. And the accident happened before he arrived for work that day. So there was no proof that landlord had notice of any condition on the stairs that could have caused tenant's injury. The court rejected a sworn statement submitted by tenant's live-in companion that stated that the banana peel was on the stairs for two days before tenant's accident. This statement was inconsistent with tenant's own statement at pretrial questioning and wasn't found credible.

Vilomar v. 490 East 181st Street Housing Development Fund Corp.: NYLJ, 4/21/08, p. 25, col. 5 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Andrias, JP, Friedman, Buckley, Catterson, Acosta, JJ)