Tenant's Child Killed by Tipping Stove After Faulty Installation

Tenant sued landlord's contractor after her child was killed when a new stove installed by the contractor tipped over. Tenant also sought damages for her other child, who witnessed the event. Tenant's parental rights to the surviving child later were terminated, and she sought to amend her court papers to add the child's adoptive parents as plaintiffs. The court dismissed tenant's claim relating to the deceased child as untimely and ruled in part for the contractor. Both sides appealed. The appeals court ruled that the three-year time limit for suing the contractor for pain and suffering of the child who was killed when the stove tipped over wasn't extended while tenant sought to amend the complaint. The court also ruled that an issue of fact remained as to whether the contractor hired to install the stove made the apartment more dangerous by failing to install an anti-tip bracket and thereby increasing the risk of harm to the child who was killed. This in turn required a trial on tenant's claim brought on behalf of the child who witnessed the accident. 

Kelley v. Schneck: 964 NYS2d 301, 2013 NY Slip Op 03150 (App. Div. 3 Dept.; 5/2/13; Mercure, JP, Lattinen, McCarthy, Garry, JJ)