Practice point: The Appellate Division reversed the motion court's granting defendant's motion to dismiss. Plaintiff was allegedly injured when she fell down a flight of stairs in
defendant's apartment building. She alleges that the accident was
caused by a loose handrail that she was holding while descending the
stairs. The handrail's looseness was confirmed by the deposition testimony of
defendant's superintendent who checked it shortly after plaintiff was
injured. Defendant failed to satisfy its initial burden of establishing a
lack of notice of the defect inasmuch as it offered no testimony as to
when the admittedly loose handrail was last inspected or repaired.
Student note: The Appellate Division expressly rejected plaintiff's alternative theory that
the allegedly worn marble tread on the stairway constituted an
actionable defective condition.
Case: DiPini v. 381 E. 160 Equities LLC, NY Slip Op 06868 (1st Dept. 2014)
Here is the decision.
Tomorrow's issue: A shareholder may not recover individually for wrongs against the corporation
