Practice point: The plaintiff allegedly sustained personal injuries when a portion of the bedroom ceiling fell on her as she was sleeping. The plaintiff commenced this action against the defendant landlord to recover damages for her injuries, asserting a single cause of action premised on theories of negligent failure to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition, and the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur. The defendant established, prima facie, that the doctrine of res ipsa
loquitur is inapplicable by submitting evidence demonstrating that the
plaintiff had been residing at her apartment for more than one year at
the time of the incident, and that the defendant did not have the
requisite exclusive control over the allegedly defective condition. In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise an issue of fact as
to the applicability of the doctrine, and so plaintiff cannot rely on res
ipsa loquitur at trial.
Student note: The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur is a rule of evidence that permits an inference of negligence to be drawn solely from the happening of an accident where the plaintiff can show that: (1) the event is of the kind that ordinarily does not occur in the absence of someone's negligence; (2) the instrumentality that caused the injury is within the defendant's exclusive control; and (3) the injury is not the result of any voluntary action by the plaintiff.
Case: Correa v. Matsias, NY Slip Op 06520 (2d Dep't September 20, 2017)
Here is the decisiion.
