Tenant Sues Landlord After Tripping Over Mat in Lobby

Tenant sued landlord for negligence, after she tripped and fell over a mat placed in front of an elevator in the building lobby. Tenant claimed that the mat was defective because it had curled-up edges. She also said landlord created and had actual or constructive notice of the condition. Tenant died of unrelated causes after starting the lawsuit, and her estate continued it. Landlord showed that the mat was taped down prior to the accident and that it didn't notice the mat was curled up before that. So landlord showed it neither created nor had actual notice of the claimed condition. Landlord also showed that it didn't have constructive notice of the condition since there was no proof that landlord received notice of the condition before tenant tripped. But other tenants signed sworn statements that the mat wasn't taped down. The court found insufficient proof to decide the case without a trial and scheduled a settlement conference.

Hinton v. Westbeth Corp.: 2019 NY Slip Op 32791(U) (Sup. Ct. NY; 9/19/19; Freed, J)